Mike Harcourt quits NDP, blames party blunders

CTV Vancouver: Harcourt quits NDP amid ‘growing di Former BC NDP premier Mike Harcourt says he’s quit the party over ongoing missteps.

A former B.C. NDP premier is blaming bad decision-making and infighting for his decision to quit the party he led for half of the 1990s.

Mike Harcourt let his NDP membership lapse at the end of December 2013 after years of mounting disappointment with the party and its leaders.

“It was a growing disgust and alienation at some really bad decisions,” Harcourt said. “I finally decided, you know? I’m going to become an independent.”

Opposing the Carbon Tax in 2009 and mutinying against leader Carole James in 2011 were among Harcourt’s biggest peeves, but he said the straw that broke the camel’s back came when Adrian Dix flip-flopped on the Kinder Morgan pipeline during last year’s election.

The 71-year-old called the decision “one of the dumbest political moves of the last few decades.”

“It cost 20 seats,” Harcourt said. “From Port Moody to Penticton, Atlin to Osoyoos, there’s not one NDP seat in that whole mix, which shows you’re really out of touch with the working people.”

Before Dix came out against the pipeline on Earth Day, he’d promised to wait for the approval process to finish before coming to a decision.

Labour and investment factions in B.C. were stunned by the reversal, which many see as a turning point that handed the election over to Christy Clark and the Liberals.

“I hope, upon reflection, he’ll come back,” Dix said Tuesday in response to news of Harcourt’s departure.

Harcourt said he’ll continue to pay attention to the NDP’s progress, and wouldn’t rule out a return in the future.

“I think it’s really important to have, in British Columbia, two strong parties,” he said. “It’s up to the NDP now to see whether they can get a strong leader with a good vision for the province, which includes the natural resources communities.”

So far, only Mike Farnworth and John Horgan have declared their candidacy to replace Dix in the upcoming leadership race.

Harcourt was elected premier in 1991 in a landslide victory over the Social Credit Party, but resigned in 1996 amid the “Bingogate” scandal involving charity bingo money being funneled into the NDP.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Ed Watson and files from The Canadian Press