Editor:
I would like to respond to the letter Tim Wood wrote in the Feb. 29 edition of the Outlook.
Mr. Wood begins by stating personal political beliefs are everyone's right, and indeed they are. However, Mr. Brett Oland wasn't speaking personally, but in his role as CEO of the Bow Valley Credit Union. He used his position to advance a political aim. Not only that, but he used our money to do it.
You see, the people he was courting in this venture, and signing up as members, belong to the Take Back Alberta movement. Mr. Oland has been diligently attending meetings of this group, not only to reap bonuses for himself, but to gain ever more control over financial institutions in this province. Stacking board positions with political cronies is exactly the tactic used by Take Back Alberta in the last provincial election, trying to leverage more pressure on the government to set their agenda.
In this case, what do they most want the government to do? Believe it or not, it is to lobby for abolition of laws pertaining to money laundering. Seriously. The CEO of the Bow Valley Credit Union wants money laundering to be made legal.
In his letter, Mr. Wood chastises us for promoting division, and implies Mr. Oland may some day realize he was wrong – that bad ideas die out through honest dialogue. There's no chance of dialogue with Take Back Alberta, honest or otherwise: their entire existence is an outgrowth of misinformation, beginning with vaccine policy, and division is their stock in trade.
Check out David Parker's best attempt at tact when discussing Naheed Nenshi's possible return to politics. Not to mention Mr. Oland is an apologist for the truckers' convoy, even those charged with conspiracy to commit murder, and his hero Tucker Carlson publicly supports murdering political rivals.
I do not accept these facts and others in this issue are somehow the equivalent of 30 people waving placards, and we should all just get along.
Ralph Temple,
Canmore
