On February 13, we had the privilege of attending the 70th annual general meeting of the Bow Valley Credit Union via Zoom. As members, we have entrusted them with our family’s mortgages, business accounts, and life savings. After this meeting we have chosen to “take back” our funds from BVCU. Here are a few of our reasons.
We logged into the AGM yesterday to hear around two hours of CEO Brett Oland and Board Chair Kevin Karpovich spouting anti-federal rhetoric about a "strong," "independent" Alberta, extolling how sponsoring a table at the Tucker Carlson event allowed them to reach their new ideal "demographic," who, they say, are "young," "faith-based" folks who "don't trust financial institutions." Tucker Carlson is an anti-LGBTQ, misogynist pundit who told Calgary’s audience that the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was “fraudulent.” Sadly, in their pursuit of new clients BVCU seem to have lost sight of their founding principles of “cooperation, integrity, innovation, service, inclusion, and citizenship” that initially drew us to the institution.
We are concerned that the CEO and board chair seem to be obsessed with signalling to a radical right-wing element in Alberta that BVCU is the bank for them. At the AGM, the CEO described federal regulations as "limits" on his grand visions of transforming members’ hard-earned savings into provincially held stockpiles of gold, although he reassured members that he wouldn’t “do anything illegal.”
We are equally mystified and alarmed about this strategy. Will the gold be buried in secret chambers under the Alberta legislature? Will Danielle Smith sit on it, perhaps on a throne? Can we, as members, at least demand that Mr. Oland and Mr. Karpovich find a dragon to guard it? Nothing currently up on BVCU's website about the "gold issue" reassures us about any of this, especially the tab under FAQ that reads "How do we know you have physical gold in your possession?" It sounds ideological, fanciful, separatist, and just plain scary. We do not want to belong to the only bank in Canada that doesn't believe in the concept of fiat currency. We are raising kids in this country and need to believe in the future of a democratic Canada, not in whatever Mr. Oland means by a "rare and unlikely capital / liquidity event" that will require physical holdings of precious medals.
We’re glad that BVCU is experiencing rapid growth because of the Board and CEO's fervent embrace of right-wing extremism, but we can't support it, and we can't get our personal and business life disentangled quickly enough. This is heartbreaking as we love the people who work in our local branch. They have been nothing but wonderful for building our family retirement plan, buying a home for ourselves and a condo for one of our parents, and assisting with our small businesses. The folks who work in the branch are friendly and respectful; they're wonderful people. They, and our community, deserve more from our BVCU’s leadership.
Gretchen Albers and Peter Fortna
Cochrane, AB
