First vice president Mischa Popoff announced his resignation from the B.C. Conservative Party yesterday, saying he can no longer represent what has become a "full blown pro-HST party."

Popoff further explains the reasons for his resignation in a letter received by The Tyee, which is excerpted here:

Fighting to cancel the HST was a way to finally stem the tide of over-spending and I have been greatly encouraged by the growing constituency of British Columbians who want to end the madness of over-taxation. But I now see that tax-and-spend madness has infected my own party.

If you dig through the morass of BC-Conservative Policy you'll eventually find a single clear promise to cancel the HST. We all know political policy is subject to change at a moment's notice, so let me tell you what's really going on behind the scenes.

Wayne McGrath, the President of the BC Conservatives has done everything he can to suppress internal debate on the HST. He and current Conservative MP John Cummins successfully deferred the passing of a clear anti-HST policy at the party's last convention, and since then have held countless secret meetings with select party members, along with other members of the federal Conservative Party, in order to water-down our party's opposition to the HST.

This is not what conservative British Columbians want and this is not what's implied on the front page of the BC Conservative Party's website where visitors are asked "Do you want B.C.'s economy to be more like Alberta's with no PST, or more like Nova Scotia's with an HST?" As such, this is something I can no longer be a part of.

B.C. Conservative Party president Wayne McGrath was unavailable for comment.

Robyn Smith is completing a practicum at The Tyee.