Former Premier Mike Harcourt told the CBC his membership in the New Democrats has lapsed.

Harcourt says his decision was based on the treatment of former leader Carole James, the flip flop loss in the last election and other personal reasons.

Harcourt has quit the NDP, saying he let his membership lapse over several issues dating back to the party’s opposition to carbon tax during the 2009 election campaign.

Harcourt said he was also unhappy with the way former leader Carole James was pushed aside in 2011 and current leader Adrian Dix’s flip-flop on the Kinder Morgan pipeline issue during the last election campaign.

“[That flip-flop] alienated all the blue-collar workers in the province and party. People rely on resources for their community….That kind of did me in,” he said.

Harcourt said the party needs to refocus on selecting a strong leader, creating a balanced economic and environmental vision for the province and building a team capable of forming a government.

For now, Harcourt says he’s calling himself an independent, but he’s not ruling out a return to the party.

Picture of Harcourt from Wikipedia – obviously much younger at that time