In this episode, Heather and Brett Olin, CEO of the Bow Valley Credit Union in Alberta, joins us to discuss Central Bank Digital Currencies, open banking, B-15s, and the lack of banking stability in Canada.
00:00:00.000I think probably a more likely scenario, rather than them having a true central bank digital currency, is they would likely use an intermediary.
00:00:08.500Like they would suggest that everybody in Canada must be a member or a client of RBC.
00:00:15.600And so everybody must have a bank account with RBC.
00:00:19.800And then, you know, I think what they'd probably try to do is bribe people into getting these accounts with this one provider.
00:00:29.280And they'd say something like, you can only get your universal basic income in your central bank digital currency account or your RBC central bank digital currency account.
00:00:40.380And so I can see that definitely happening.
00:00:44.420It definitely failed from a social level so far, the central bank digital currency.
00:00:51.000But what if we go down the road and people are desperate?
00:00:54.700They're desperate to put a roof over their heads.
00:00:56.860They're desperate to put food on the table.
00:00:58.480They're desperate to heat and get to work and things like that.
00:01:03.940And they cry out to the politicians, we need something.
00:01:07.200And I think some slick politician will stick up their hand and say, I've got a solution for you.
00:01:12.140It's a central bank digital currency, except it's not called that.
00:01:15.500It's called the rainbow currency or something like that.
00:01:18.200And everybody will sign up for it out of necessity.
00:01:21.580And so that's a central bank digital currency.
00:01:25.040But I'm going to go into a couple of other things that are more concerning to me than that, that are actually in play today.
00:01:32.500I'm so pleased to introduce you to Brett Olin, the CEO for the Bow Valley Credit Union in Alberta, as he joins us for our continued discussion about central bank digital currency.
00:01:49.740Brett has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary and is a chartered accountant with expertise in corporate finance.
00:01:58.640He's served on the Board of Directors for the Credit Union Central of Alberta and chaired the Board of Directors for the Bow Valley Credit Union.
00:02:06.540He has 20 years experience working in the banking industry and has serious concerns about open banking, B-15s, CBDCs and the lack of banking stability in Canada.
00:02:19.880As an interesting aside, you might remember that the Bow Valley Credit Union did not close the accounts of members who supported the truckers' convoy.
00:02:29.780Tonight, we're so grateful that Brett can join us to share his extensive knowledge with us.
00:02:34.840Will you all please help me welcome Brett Olin.
00:02:38.140Brett, thank you for joining us and welcome to the Empower Hour.
00:02:42.300Well, I really appreciate you having me. Thank you very much.
00:02:48.660I have been wanting to have you on the show for quite a while now.
00:02:52.180So many Canadians are appreciative of the stand that Bow Valley Credit Union took.
00:02:58.580I know that you have been out there speaking and educating and advising people.
00:03:04.840On the CBDCs and other issues, financial matters that are important to Canadians.
00:03:09.840So I'm really excited to have you on the show.
00:03:12.420A lot of people have become familiar with CBDCs.
00:03:15.800And I've got to admit, even with myself, I wasn't as familiar with the open banking or the B-15 guidelines.
00:03:22.780And as I was going through researching it, I'm thinking, oh my goodness, this is definitely something that Canadians need to hear about.
00:03:29.540And then before I hand it over, I was just very excited that recently in the U.S., the House had voted against the CBDCs, although it does need to still go through the Senate.
00:03:41.840And then we've had word as well that the Swiss Central Bank just said it says no need for a retail CBDC as risk outweigh benefits, as well as seven other countries, including Denmark and Ecuador, have cancelled CBDC projects as well.
00:03:56.000So hopefully good sense is going to prevail.
00:03:58.560But we know that Trudeau and the Liberals and the NDP are just, you know, they're just so committed to all of this tyranny.
00:04:07.020And hopefully this will be part of sinking their ship.
00:04:15.920Yeah, it's something of great concern that I have.
00:04:20.760And it seems that some countries around the world are coming to their senses around the possible implications of what this could be.
00:04:30.420You know, and it's yet to be seen whether they're going to try and rebrand it as something different.
00:04:35.940Because central bank liberals, digital currencies or CBDCs has such a terrible stigma attached to it.
00:04:43.720But, you know, I would not be surprised if they try and rebrand it and come out with something a little different format that trying to sell this to Canadians in general.
00:04:57.940And it'll all be on the safety and security of your finances and your investments.
00:05:03.640And I just experienced something where I've had fraud on my credit card and I'm like, they can't even keep credit cards from, you know, not being picked by some loser who wants to, you know, make a few bucks.
00:05:17.080So this is not at all about safety and security of our finances.
00:05:59.980So if anybody wants to actually ask Brett any questions, then you'll need to sign on to the Empower Hour.
00:06:07.340And Brett, it's actually, as I consider that, I mean, you're the president and CEO of the bank, of the credit union here in Canada.
00:06:14.980And I can't even imagine having the opportunity to sit down with the president and CEO of TD Bank or Bank of Montreal, you know, to ask these questions from the inside.
00:06:34.020So, yeah, I think, as mentioned, Rob, a few weeks back, Rob Anders did a great job of central bank digital currency and the conversation around that.
00:06:45.020And I encourage everybody to go take a look at that presentation that was a few weeks back.
00:06:51.920I'm going to get into a little bit more detail on a couple of concepts that I think are probably more problematic than a central bank digital currency.
00:07:04.140And we'll just start, first of all, with the – if I can get my next slide.
00:07:10.520This is something I actually came across just on X.
00:07:14.300And for those of you that aren't great with reading like I am, I'll read it out to you.
00:07:20.760What if the bank runs out of money from the Monopoly game?
00:07:24.860Some players think that the bank will go bankrupt if it runs out of money.
00:07:30.860To continue playing, use slips of paper and keep track of each player's banking transactions until the bank has enough paper money to operate again.
00:07:39.800The banker may also issue new money on slips of ordinary paper.
00:07:44.300And I think this is a really just fantastic example of a board game that we likely all grew up with and how money is actually – how currency is actually created.
00:07:59.040And it's the similar process that they're trying to do with the central bank digital currency with the fact that it's just much easier to create a central bank digital currency than it would be with a paper currency.
00:08:13.080So, first of all, I mentioned that I'm concerned about a few more things other than central bank digital currencies.
00:08:19.840But I think it's important to understand exactly what a central bank digital currency is.
00:08:25.080So, here's the current setup of the banking system.
00:08:28.780So, you have the Central Bank of Canada who usually calls the shots on rates and printing currency and that type of thing.
00:08:36.300And they are linked with the treasury.
00:08:38.600And the treasury, if you think of it, is the checking account of the government.
00:08:43.920And so, it's distinct and separate, those two parts, from your financial institution.
00:08:49.800And when I say your financial institution, I mean all the major banks in Canada, all the major credit unions in Canada – RBC, BMO, TD, Bow Valley Credit Union, Service Credit Union here in Alberta – are all financial institutions.
00:09:05.060And the reason why there's a separation is because banking's been around for thousands of years.
00:09:13.960And there is a good reason that there is a separation between the checking account of the government of Canada, the central bank, and your financial institution.
00:09:25.040And I don't think it would be any surprise to people that these three groups have sort of gotten closer and closer together over the past number of years.
00:09:33.860And really, the reason why these aren't combined is really market forces don't – free market forces don't allow them to be combined.
00:09:44.100And so, if you think of something like Bow Valley Credit Union, I actually care about profit and loss of my organization.
00:09:52.980RBC CEO cares about the profit and loss of their organization.
00:09:57.100So, they can't run around giving out what I call malinvestment to silly loans and things like that that have no financial return.
00:10:07.300Otherwise, if you have too many loans like that on your books, you're going to go bankrupt as an organization.
00:10:14.180So, now, I think it's safe to say that the current government doesn't care about printing money.
00:10:21.100So, they don't care about things going bankrupt.
00:10:23.760And I think that's really prevalent in society today where we were at the zero bound with interest rates.
00:10:31.380And when you start to see ridiculous programs come out all over the place.
00:10:37.400And, you know, one was just brought up in the introduction.
00:10:40.120SOGI 123 is a great example of a program that has no return on investment to society.
00:10:48.400Similar to a number of these wind farms and solar farms.
00:10:56.820And so, when you have the government basically propping up these programs and not allowed to fail, that is considered malinvestment.
00:11:07.840And it can only lead to very detrimental things in society.
00:11:12.220So, when you think of a true central bank digital currency, it's rather than you dealing through the intermediary of a commercial bank or a Bow Valley Credit Union or an RBC or a TD type thing, you directly go to the central bank of Canada.
00:11:29.260And so, everybody in Canada would have a bank account with the central bank.
00:11:34.400And, of course, we know the implications of something like that.
00:11:37.780They can turn off your account on a whim.
00:11:40.120They could put time limits on your currency.
00:11:48.580They could put different credit scores around whether you've eaten too much red meat or emitted too much carbon.
00:11:55.800So, I think we all can understand that that's a very big challenge if that's directly with the central bank of Canada.
00:12:03.280I think probably a more likely scenario, rather than them having a true central bank digital currency, is they would likely use an intermediary.
00:12:12.900Like, they would suggest that everybody in Canada must be a member or a client of RBC.
00:12:19.520And so, everybody must have a bank account with RBC.
00:12:23.980And then, you know, I think what they'd probably try to do is bribe people into getting these accounts with this one provider.
00:12:33.520And they'd say something like, you can only get your universal basic income in your central bank digital currency account or your RBC central bank digital currency account.
00:12:44.080And so, I can see that definitely happening.
00:12:49.040It definitely failed from a social level so far, the central bank digital currency.
00:12:55.220But what if we go down the road and people are desperate?
00:12:59.180They're desperate to put a roof over their heads.
00:13:01.080They're desperate to put food on the table.
00:13:03.120They're desperate to heat and get to work and things like that.
00:13:07.620And they cry out to the politicians, we need something.
00:13:11.420And I think some slick politician will stick up their hand and say, I've got a solution for you.
00:13:16.220It's a central bank digital currency, except it's not called that.
00:13:19.720It's called the rainbow currency or something like that.
00:13:22.420And everybody will sign up for it out of necessity.
00:13:26.560And so, that's a central bank digital currency.
00:13:29.120But I'm going to go into a couple of other things that are more concerning to me than that, that are actually in play today.
00:13:41.180So, again, we sort of have our current structure and there is quite a distinct separation between the government of Canada, your financial institution, and third-party vendors.
00:13:51.120And the easiest way that I can describe open banking is if anybody's signed up for a new budgeting software or a new accounting software or some of these financial things that come out these days,
00:14:08.280usually one of the first things it wants to do is link to your existing financial institution.
00:14:13.600So, what it does is say, I can make your life so much easier, things are going to be more secure, things are going to be more safe if I have direct access to your bank account.
00:14:23.400And so, this third-party provider, if you allow it, you'll go in and you'll put in your password information and it'll grab information from your existing bank account.
00:14:33.160And so, right now, it uses a technology called screen scraping.
00:14:37.720And screen scraping isn't terribly effective right now.
00:14:41.140It can go grab amounts and maybe dates and that type of thing, but it's not very specific.
00:14:47.400Under something like open banking, they're basically putting that screen scraping on steroids.
00:14:54.000And so, the federal government came out with a framework in the height of COVID.
00:15:02.220Of course, there's a lot of things that happened in the height of COVID that they slipped in.
00:15:05.780And they created a loose framework for open banking.
00:15:11.320And so, this open banking framework that they're proposing, not only just sort of screen scrapes,
00:15:17.900it can pinpoint accuracy, dates, times, what you're spending your information on, when you spent it on it, what store you went to.
00:15:28.540So, it's a really comprehensive indication of what's going through your financial institution.
00:15:35.120And so, not only if you allow it, will it go out and grab it from your specific financial institution,
00:15:42.000but it'll also grab it from everywhere.
00:18:25.820And it talks about greenhouse gas emissions.
00:18:29.860And, of course, they're targeting greenhouse gas cap-intensive industries.
00:18:37.680And so, just to give you an indication of how detrimental this is going to be.
00:18:42.720So, currently, Bow Valley Credit Union requires, to create a loan for oil and gas, just to create $1 in loan, we require 12.5 cents of capital.
00:18:55.600And so, it's important to note that capital is very important to financial institutions.
00:19:04.840But every time we give out a loan, we basically eat up into our capital.
00:19:09.420And it makes us safe and secure organizations, the more capital that we have.
00:19:15.060So, now, under these new guidelines, it links to, in B-15, links to another bill, S-243.
00:19:24.000And within S-243, it gives new guidelines that you need to give out these capital loans for these OSFI-regulated financial institutions.
00:19:35.160So, with that same dollar that you'd lend to oil and gas as a financial institution, rather than 12.5 cents, you'd need $1.56 for capital.
00:19:45.680Or that would imply a 1,250% increase in capital that would be required to give out that loan.
00:19:53.220And so, this implies about a breakeven point that we would have to charge, or an OSFI-regulated institution would need to charge of about 20%.
00:20:02.840If rates continue to rise, these oil and gas industries, sensitive industries, are going to be looking at 25%, 30%, 35% loans per annum that they're going to have to pay to basically get a loan from these financial institutions.
00:20:20.500Otherwise, the financial institution cannot break even and will not give that loan.
00:20:25.960And so, what's probably even more concerning, if you go into the OSFI website, into the S-243, it gives a list of industries that they're basically concerned about with greenhouse gases.
00:20:39.040And, of course, you're going to see oil and gas industries on there.
00:20:42.920But then, probably just a shock to some people, you're going to see agriculture in there.
00:20:48.780Anything that's food-intensive is carbon-emitting.
00:20:54.920Forestry is definitely going to be in there.
00:21:00.940And probably the most concerning to me is they cited residential housing as a concern as well.
00:21:08.660So, to me, if you follow this down the path, anybody that has perhaps an older home, maybe you only have single-pane or double-pane windows.
00:21:18.740Maybe you don't have enough insulation in your house.
00:21:22.860Maybe you don't have jetothermal heating.
00:21:24.800In that case, rather than paying the traditional 4%, 5%, 6% for a mortgage, you could be looking at 10%, 15%, 20% for your mortgage because you do not comply with the restrictions under this S-243.
00:21:41.780So, now, it's important to note that, again, Bow Valley Credit Union does not need to follow these standards.
00:21:49.760So, I think it's important that you go out and talk to some local credit unions in your area to see what they're doing around B-15 and S-243 and what the plan is.
00:22:00.780Because the thing is, this could be very detrimental to people if this comes enacted and an oil and gas company thinks things are going along very well, and then all of a sudden they get stuck with a 35% mortgage.
00:22:15.380And here's just a slide that I came across that was very interesting, and I think it's a great reminder that there's no such thing as a low-energy rich country.
00:22:27.520And so, basically, if we decide in Canada that we're going to take away all our sources of energy, we're going to end up a third-world country.
00:22:37.800And there's just no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
00:22:40.820And, you know, there's got to be some ever better solutions.
00:22:45.180I don't propose that we go off of oil and gas any time in the future.
00:22:50.000But if you are concerned about carbon within the atmosphere, there's better solutions than kneecapping oil and gas.
00:22:56.920We need to start looking at geothermal.
00:22:58.780We need to start looking at nuclear if these are the roads that you want to go down.
00:23:02.540But, unfortunately, the government basically just wants to kneecap the oil and gas industry with no alternative, which will put Canada in the poorhouse.
00:23:14.400So, now, why are they doing all these things?
00:23:17.440I think it's important to try and understand what is actually happening here.
00:23:25.040And we came across this when I was doing a number of hours of research about three years ago and saw what the central banks were doing around the world, basically giving out free currency and doling it out to people in society throughout COVID.
00:23:45.260This, of course, was massively inflationary.
00:23:50.480And I don't think it's any surprise to people that they see their grocery prices skyrocketing.
00:24:05.940This is all of a result of, basically, the central banks around the world monetizing the debt that the government basically tried or was successful in creating and spent into the economy during COVID.
00:24:25.800And I think it's just at significantly elevated levels right now.
00:24:29.980And so, here's a great chart from when Nixon removed the U.S. off the gold standard.
00:24:36.060And as you can see, the productivity of people in society continued to improve, but the hourly compensation that people received continued to just stay flat, maybe a little bit up.
00:24:48.580And so, it's no wonder that people are constantly struggling in society today.
00:24:53.980Way back when, like in the 70s, one person working outside of the home would be enough to support a family and have a house and to be able to afford two cars.
00:25:07.280And then it slowly graduated into two people outside of the home.
00:25:11.380And then it slowly turned into, oh, I need a side gig to make things meet.
00:25:17.320And now we're at a point where families realistically need to think about stacking one on top of each other, where multiple families are living in one household, because the cost of living has gone up so significantly, and the hourly compensation hasn't kept up to be able to compensate for it.
00:25:38.600So, here's another great slide that I came across, and it's of M2.
00:25:46.860And if you think of M2, it's basically just the money that's in the real economy.
00:25:53.220And so, as you can see, it sort of tails off at the end there and spikes after 2020 when they decided to give out all those stimulation checks.
00:26:02.620And so, this is basically currency printing at its finest.
00:26:08.480The government comes up with a program and then spends it into the real economy.
00:26:13.040And it's no wonder on this next slide here that we see the consumer price index skyrocketing as well as that M2 money supply.
00:26:21.400So, now, this hasn't been a problem up until about now.
00:26:26.460So, we've had pretty much a lot of currency printing for about the past 15 years since the great financial crisis in 2008.
00:26:35.820And it really hasn't been a problem until now.
00:26:39.040So, now what we're seeing is the central banks and these governments really in a rock and a hard place of where their interest on their debt has basically skyrocketed.
00:26:52.260In the U.S., it's about one quarter of all tax receipts received goes to service the debt.
00:26:59.120And the thing is, inflation is not yet under control, not in the U.S. and not in Canada.
00:27:05.400And I am of the view that they're going to have to increase interest rates to get this inflation under control rather than decrease them.
00:27:15.500And that seems to be the general narrative that's out there, which means that even more money is going to have to go into interest payments.
00:27:25.020And in Canada, it's so bad that when this budget came out in this March of 2024, not only did we spend, we plan on spending more than we actually bring in tax revenue.
00:27:39.800But on top of that, they're adding debt of a quarter of a trillion dollars.
00:27:44.960And so, when you get into this position where you actually have to print currency to pay for your debt, it's called fiscal dominance.
00:27:53.800And it might not be as quick to be as inflationary as sending out a bunch of stimmy checks to everybody across Canada.
00:28:03.360It does gradually get its way out into the real economy.
00:28:07.020All those interest debts is owned by somebody, and they spend it somewhere.
00:28:11.840And I think that inflation is going to continue for the foreseeable future.
00:28:18.100And so, here's another final slide that's really great that sort of highlights this exact thing that was happening.
00:28:27.440So, in 2008, basically what happened was that the governments printed all this currency, but it was actually just captured within the banking sector and never actually made it out into the real economy.
00:28:42.200But as you can see on the far right there on the slide, not only did they print the currency, but they also got it out of the real economy.
00:28:52.720And it's no wonder that we've seen such amount of inflation, and I expect that to continue for years to come.
00:28:59.260I think we'll look back in the 2030s and go, wow, that was a very inflationary decade.
00:29:03.880So, it's also very important to note of not necessarily listening to what central banks say, but what the central banks do.
00:29:14.880And so, around the world, typically gold has been the reserve asset for governments around the world.
00:29:23.560And over the last hundred or so years, we have gradually declined in the value of reserves that we've actually held.
00:29:32.540But I think it's really important to note what's happened in the last couple of years.
00:29:37.940Those reserves have started to move upwards, and that's largely a result of governments around the world not trusting the system anymore.
00:29:46.840So, you think China, you think India, you think Russia, you think South America, you think Brazil, all have lost faith in the U.S. dollar because they continue to print it year after year, and it just gets devalued year after year.
00:30:02.840And so, they are shoring up their reserves of gold within their balance sheets.
00:30:10.220And so, what we're trying to do as an organization is basically we propose the same thing.
00:30:16.120So, Bow Valley Credit Union is actually using the profits from our organization to purchase gold and silver to put on our balance sheet.
00:30:29.660We're also looking at other hard assets, such as Bitcoin, to be able to do something like that.
00:30:35.220But we want to be able to cater to our membership as well, not just protect our members within our organization, but also to help people get prepared for what we think is going to be a massively inflationary decade.
00:30:49.460And so, within Bow Valley Credit Union, we have our partner, Silver Gold Bull, that we get wholesale pricing from, and you can go through Bow Valley Credit Union's website and get that same discount to purchase physical gold and silver for yourself.
00:31:05.460We also have storage solutions, and we recently launched a program where you can actually borrow against your gold and silver.
00:31:14.740So, basically, you have $10,000 in gold and silver.
00:31:21.080You can actually borrow against your gold and silver, get fiat currency, and pay for that solution.
00:31:27.000But you actually retain your gold and silver, and it works more like a home equity line credit where you can actually take a loan of your gold and silver.
00:31:36.820We're also working on a program where it moves directly from a store of value to actually a medium exchange.
00:31:47.100And let me explain that just a little bit better.
00:31:49.060Because we see all this devaluation of the currency happening in the world today, we want to be able to give people access to a stable store of value.
00:32:01.880In this case, being gold or silver, that's your core asset that you want to be able to use.
00:32:07.080But it's very difficult to spend gold and silver today into the real economy.
00:32:11.480So, we're coming up with a solution to basically move directly from that store of value to buy that cup of coffee through your debit card or your credit card.
00:32:29.580As mentioned there, we were very opposed to freezing accounts during the trucker convoy.
00:32:36.840As well as we did not force any of our staff to get vaccinated during the COVID pandemic, which was very different from any OSFI regulated financial institution in Canada forced their staff to get vaccinated.
00:32:54.240That included RBC, TD, anybody that follows those guiding lines here in Alberta, even ATB, forced their staff to get vaccinated.
00:33:05.000We are here to provide a financial service to people.
00:33:08.540We are not here to dictate health status to people.
00:33:12.820So, anyway, these are just a couple of things that we're doing as an organization.
00:33:18.260And I encourage you to look into other credit unions, perhaps in your province, about what we could accomplish in various credit unions.
00:33:27.600I think it's important that the time for action is now.
00:33:31.480Some of these things like central bank digital currencies may have gone away for a bit of time frame, but they'll come back.
00:33:40.840And with things like open banking and B15, they don't need a central bank digital currency to basically control the narrative that they want and push people into a direction that they want.
00:33:52.240And so now, just finally wrapping up, this was a really interesting letter that's hanging on our wall in our first branch in Banff from 1953.
00:34:03.860And it's basically the go had the green light that we were allowed to start our credit union.
00:34:11.080And so an interesting story in Quebec way back when the English-speaking people controlled the banking sector.
00:34:20.340And they didn't give any access to the French-speaking people to the banking services.
00:34:27.440And so what the French-speaking people did is basically said, to heck with you, we're coming up with our own financial institution.
00:34:34.600So now today, that cooperative, that credit union, has 6.5 million members, has its own act, and has significant political sway.
00:34:47.840And that act is called the Desjardins Act, and that's around today.
00:34:52.920And that's because they came together as individuals within their province and wanted change.
00:35:21.120You've put that nicely into layman terms, so I think everybody could clearly understand, you know, how complicated the financial situation is in Canada.
00:35:32.700I say complicated, but it's really quite simple, right?
00:35:35.880They're messing around with people's money.
00:35:39.160They're overstepping and getting into an area that the banking system should have stayed out of.
00:35:47.920And I compare it right now as I'm thinking it's so invasive, knowing that they are watching all of our spending, no matter where we go, what we spend our money on.
00:36:00.180And, you know, now we walk around our cities as well, and there's surveillance cameras everywhere.
00:36:04.680It's just, it's the same thing, but just in a different area of our lives.
00:36:09.920And if we don't like it, then we need to really take those simple steps not to comply.
00:36:15.660And again, that would be using cash, taking your money out of the main banks.
00:36:20.140I think they're really quite concerned about that, the big banks, as people were doing those bank runs and removing funds.
00:36:29.300There was a period of time, and I think when Trudeau was overstepping, the banks were probably going,
00:36:54.820And I think there's some estimates that within that week, $35 to $50 billion exited Canada.
00:37:01.360And basically it was people that put capital into the country and said, no more, I'm getting my money out of there, I'm done with you.
00:37:11.020And so I don't know how much of that has actually come back, but that it was one week that the implications of something like that happened.
00:37:21.420I sort of put people in two different categories.
00:37:25.460It's hard not to sort of categorize people these days.
00:37:27.780There's the people that think they're in charge and try and rule the world, and the people that know they're not in charge and the man upstairs is actually in charge.
00:37:37.980And I think it's a very important distinction that it's constant example after example after example of these people trying to micromanage people's lives.
00:37:50.940And a big one is finances and currency.
00:37:55.060And to be able to control that is a big step forward for them.
00:38:08.660We've seen it down in the States against Target and other businesses that decided to go all woke and think they could push their agenda on the population.
00:38:37.880So I want to ask you, I experienced something here where someone had gone to a credit union and because of all of the ordeal with the trucker's convoy and money being pulled out,
00:38:49.620they had to go through a very rigorous risk assessment and they were denied by this local credit union to invest their money or even open up an account.
00:39:03.420So do the credit unions depend on who the board and the directors are?
00:39:07.540Yeah, it's definitely something to it.
00:39:10.380And, you know, we hear stories just about weekly of people continuing to get debanked where they'll show up with a letter that says something like,
00:40:34.440And what I would do is just ask around and see what some credit unions' responses were to COVID and the trucker convoy and that type of thing.
00:40:45.760That's the best advice I can give if you're outside of Alberta and unfortunately can't join Bull Valley Credit Union.
00:40:51.980It's a really tough scenario to be in.
00:40:57.960But I think there is some progress being made and people gradually are getting more emboldened to tackle some of these issues right within the credit union and have had enough.
00:41:09.600I think that if people came together within their communities, we've got over 100 chapters across Canada and we're trying to build these communities.
00:41:16.700Because the globalists say that within the communities, it's the mayor and city council who are closest to the people who can bring about the greatest amount of change.
00:41:26.860But those communities outnumber the globalists within there and the few people that are going along with it.
00:41:33.720And if you applied enough pressure to a local credit union and provided them your business, I think that they would enjoy that business to the point where they'd more likely listen to the people.
00:41:46.500But this whole thing that had transpired with the banks, I mean, the big five banks, there's obviously collaboration there with the government as well.
00:41:57.840And I think it was FinTrack that was developed, wasn't it, after 9-11.
00:42:05.160And they implement this so that to protect people's financing and to make sure that if there's any terrorist activity, they can shut it down.
00:42:13.540And as you're speaking, I'm thinking about in Sweden and Switzerland right now, they're actually closing down mosques because of terrorists that are running them and their terrorist cells.
00:42:25.840And they're saying, you know what, you can sell your assets and get out.
00:42:30.000And here, we're not even able to open a bank account because of this little risk assessment.
00:42:35.520And as average Canadians, we pose no threat or risk.
00:42:39.100And so, it's really quite shocking when you compare the two, if you consider it that way.
00:42:57.460It was through FinTrack that this order came out.
00:43:00.760And so, now, if we did get an order from FinTrack to freeze somebody's account down, we would have to abide by it.
00:43:09.200But the thing is, it doesn't mean that we're not going to push back.
00:43:13.320And in this case, it was completely unfounded.
00:43:16.520And if we were able to just drag our feet for that week, people would have been okay and not frozen out of their accounts and that type of thing, just because it did not last very long, this Emergencies Act, and was ultimately proven unconstitutional in the courts.
00:44:14.000Mike, I've worked with and for Canadian credit unions for over 35 years and have witnessed virtually every credit union across the country, as well as the provincial central credit unions and regulators become captured by those who push a specific ideology.
00:44:32.280Brett, he says, how have you managed to escape this stranglehold on the credit union system?
00:44:41.280And it's definitely a challenge because I agree that some of these organizations are captured.
00:44:48.600A big part of it is management in place.
00:44:51.920And so, the management is put in place by the CEO and the CEO is put in place by the board.
00:44:59.980But the good news is, as a member of a credit union, you can go on the board.
00:45:05.540And so, basically, what we had to do is get all the bad actors out and put in the good actors on the board and be able to basically get an uninterrupted view of the organization and instill management in place.
00:45:24.820And, basically, what it did is harden the organization.
00:45:29.320And so, once the general public starts to see what you're doing as an organization, they come flocking.
00:45:35.260And so, people with the same value set that we have, freedom, liberty, entrepreneurial spirit, have come flocking to our organization.
00:45:43.920And it hardens the organization and they show up to AGMs and they vote in the right people.
00:45:50.180So, it's a long process, but at the end of the day, it is possible.
00:46:29.100Will that affect you and other credit unions?
00:46:30.940So, it's right within the Bank Act and basically the bank back in, I think, 1880 first started the Bank Act.
00:46:40.360And originally when it was created, basically they put on the charter that they would expire after 10 years.
00:46:50.120And so, it forced the government and the Senate to basically review the Bank Act every year.
00:46:57.620And so, it's nothing new that there's an expiry on the actual bank charters.
00:47:04.900And, you know, what they did do is they moved it from 10 years to 5 years.
00:47:09.260And most recently, I think it was in 2023, they were supposed to review the Bank Act.
00:47:16.800But what happened is if governments get distracted by Rainbow Sidewalks and SOGI and other things like that, they don't have time to look at, like, such low-level stuff like Bank Act.
00:47:28.060So, what they did is they basically just punted it out a couple of years.
00:47:32.900My expectation is that they'll come closer to that June 2025 deadline and move it out further.
00:47:40.060I know I might be out on an island on my thinking there, but banking is very complicated.
00:47:47.300For the actual government to take it on within a couple of years, getting the process and systems in place, I just don't think it's possible.
00:47:54.480Okay, good. Yeah, and the more that people are pushing back against these systems as well, even if they do have these nefarious plans, they're going to have to think twice about it.
00:48:05.800You know, even, I never understand, I know they're wanting to go towards a socialist system where everybody receives an income a month, whether it's $2,000, etc.
00:48:15.100But then you don't have people making the taxes and paying for all of this, and so are they going to continually to print their magical monopoly money or pick it off the trees in Justin Trudeau's backyard?
00:48:26.420I don't know. It just makes, socialism makes no sense to me. It's not my choice.
00:48:32.500No, and the thing is, I'm a bit of a history buff, and, you know, socialism has killed more people than any other political structure under the sun.
00:48:44.220And so, I just, it blows my mind that, especially the youth today, seem to be subscribing to this.
00:48:51.900But history repeats itself in a lot of these circumstances that we saw that communist countries voted in cheering these governments because they were so desperate for change.
00:49:09.180And I think it's important for education that we've gone down this road before.
00:50:10.020And unfortunately, many kids, they don't feel like they can aspire to what we could be doing with them previously, like in the era that I was brought up and the input from my community and my family and to be able to achieve.
00:50:27.600And so when you put kids under, you know, this type of pressure and the social justice things, they're not thinking about banking.
00:50:36.120They're not thinking about what they're going to do as a profession and providing for their family and being responsible part of community.
00:50:42.900They're thinking more about being victims and the handouts that come with that.
00:50:48.440And anyways, we've got work to do there and we are.
00:50:51.920So I'll get back to some of these questions.
00:50:54.960I know that people would probably really want to know, if you're in another province, can you get an account in Bow Valley?
00:51:02.120Unfortunately, you need to be a resident of Alberta to be able to be a member of Bow Valley Credit Union.
00:51:12.220If you're really wanting to do it, there's a couple of options.
00:51:16.480If you have a friend or family member within Alberta that resides in Alberta, you can basically get a co-account opened up with them and basically Bob's your uncle from there.
00:52:30.520And the thing is, it doesn't have to be in perpetuity either.
00:52:33.360It's just basically for the sign-up period and then you can live outside of province and be a member without that resident being in Alberta.
00:52:44.480Yeah, and how would that work for checks?
00:52:47.280Like if you have a check to cash, how do you get it to deposit it, you know, if you're in a different province?
00:52:53.620Well, we have mobile check deposits, so you can just even use your cell phone.
00:52:56.480Our ATM network is across Canada as well and basically it links directly into our banking system.
00:53:03.500You pop in your Bow Valley Credit Union debit card, any ATM across Canada, you can make deposits or do transactions, pay bills, that type of thing.
00:53:46.420I'm probably not in a position to be able to speak to them yet because they may not want to go public with something like this.
00:53:56.240My hope is to actually get to a point where I can create basically a documentation model and hand it to a credit union in a different province and go here.
00:55:02.600We have two in Airdrie, one in Calgary, and a recent branch that we opened just at the beginning of May in Atchison, which is just west of Edmonton.
00:55:31.220And I do have sort of a bit of a line of sight to a Saskatchewan one and an Ontario one, but I can't really in good confidence release that information until they're ready to sort of go down that road.
00:55:44.300So, okay, well, maybe this will be another show and we could, you know, announce credit unions, give people more direction.
00:55:54.180I really see this as the way for the future as people want to move away from the banking system.
00:55:58.840I love the fact that you're backed by silver and gold.
00:56:01.300It's the smartest thing to do and bring stability to the, if I'm not mistaken, to the cash that people actually are holding in their hands through your banking system.
00:56:41.120And, and that's what we're doing within our organization and encouraging people to take a bit of their savings, put it into gold and silver.
00:56:49.740Some of these hard assets to, to be able to really prevent the significant swings in the devaluation of currency from impacting you.
00:57:01.200And where the gold and silver is stored, because I know there was the bank bail-ins many years ago.
00:57:07.880I wrote about it and I was trying to warn people because they snuck it into the, the finance or the, what was the document that was put in the, do you recall the bank bail-ins?
00:57:20.400It became one of the financial agreements budget into the budget.
00:57:24.400And I think it was in 2014, I was really surprised when Harper actually did put this in the, yeah, whatever act it came into.
00:57:34.740And so a bail-in for those unfamiliar, basically, if you have any deposits in the banks over $100,000, they're at risk.
00:57:44.120And if, if, if say TD failed or something like that, then any dollar over that $100,000 limit would basically get converted into some type of share of, of TD bank.
00:57:59.860You get a share of a failing bank instead of your actual deposit.
00:58:05.680You know, I, I don't see the likelihood of that transpiring.
00:58:11.220I think the likelihood of a bank failure in Canada is quite low, but there is a big difference between a nominal failure and, and a real failure.
00:58:24.480So basically what the government is right now is, is on a real basis insolvent.
00:58:33.320And so what they do is they print currency on a nominal basis.
00:58:36.700And so that's why we see the economy not collapsing and things like that, and prices of housing not going down significantly, or the stock market not going down, is because they printed so many nominal dollars that it's propping up the system.
00:58:51.920But on a real basis, your actual purchasing power has significantly declined.
00:58:56.900And that's what happens when you increase the, the, the dollar supply by 40% in three years.
00:59:03.220Right. And I know you were talking, when we're talking bank bail-ins, I mean, was it Greece?
00:59:08.660We look at what happened when the whole blank banking system collapsed and that was the real concern.
00:59:15.080We don't know if that's the direction the government is doing to agitate the system enough to switch.
00:59:24.760And then many times I've heard that the CDIC, which is the Canadian deposit insurance, that they would never have enough money if people had $100,000 across the country.
00:59:35.080They don't have enough money in the pot to even pay everybody.
00:59:38.900So it isn't necessarily the best thing to have, you know, that kind of money invested in the banks.
00:59:49.080Well, you know, I agree, even with our insurance, the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation, it's only about a percent and a half that's actually stored somewhere.
01:00:00.500I think, again, though, the risk is likely low.
01:00:03.720If there was a failure, what would happen is the Bank of Canada would step in and print to high heaven.
01:00:11.720And so that $100 that you have in your account, you'd get it back.
01:00:17.700But the thing is, it doesn't do you much good if inflation really kicks in.
01:00:21.860And if TD went broke, that's $1.2 trillion that they'd actually have to print.
01:00:29.540So that would make inflation just go through the roof.
01:00:33.660So that $100, it would still be yours, but, you know, doesn't do you much good if a loaf of bread costs $100.
01:01:18.700It was largely toothless, this mandate.
01:01:22.640So basically what they said, they basically gave the carrot approach and said, at the time, gold was worth about $20 an ounce, and they were paying people $35 an ounce to get it.
01:01:35.960So a lot of people just said, hey, that's a great increase in value.
01:02:15.120And so there is a confiscation risk that's out there, and I don't think it's any greater than any other risk.
01:02:23.740So I think probably a more likely scenario in Canada is we have a whole lot of gold mines in Canada.
01:02:31.400And what they do is either take them over and basically run the mines as a crown corporation or something like that and get the gold that way.
01:02:42.200Or an even more likely scenario is they just put a royalty tax on it.
01:02:46.460So for every ounce of gold, they would take a gram or something like that.
01:02:50.860And that's how they'd sort of reshore their stores of gold.
01:02:56.400And that would be much simpler than trying to go door-to-door, trying to collect gold and silver from people.
01:03:04.040And even still, they don't have a right to it unless it's Royal Canadian minted bullion.
01:03:10.060Again, you could be a jewelry dealer and make jewelry.
01:03:14.480So if that ever is enacted, I could see a whole bunch of jewelry producers just come out magically.
01:03:47.080I know people are asking, is it better to take my cash out of a regular bank and put it into a credit union?
01:03:56.260And is the risk less in a credit union?
01:03:59.080But I kind of feel like we may have covered that already, depending on the way the credit union is going to do business.
01:04:06.280Yeah, and it's important to note, don't be hyperbolic with this type of thing.
01:04:11.160Don't take all your money out and put it under your mattress.
01:04:14.740That's being a little impractical, I think.
01:04:17.700But I think it is important to do a little research.
01:04:21.220Do a little research on your financial institution.
01:04:24.680And I'm always surprised that people do more researching a television than they do their financial institution where their savings are for their nest egg.
01:04:41.080What did you do during the truck convoy?
01:04:43.280Are you planning on implementing open banking?
01:04:45.540What do you think of central bank digital currencies?
01:04:47.420Like, and as we sort of talked about at the beginning of the show, good luck in getting somebody in TD that knows the answer to these questions.
01:04:57.360But that sort of is a statement in itself.
01:05:00.600So in general, credit unions are for the people and they listen to their members of the people.
01:05:09.240And therefore, you have a voice there.
01:05:11.480And if you want change, you can ring it up the flagpole a lot easier than you can with a large Schedule I bank.
01:07:11.260What I'd recommend is actually talking to a tax accountant.
01:07:14.640And it may sound expensive to start with, but a couple thousand dollars will go a long way if you're paying tens of thousands of dollars in tax or ten thousands of dollars less, in fact.
01:07:29.420In transferring from RSPs to gold back, gold or silver back, you mean?
01:07:34.340Yeah, so you go right into physical bullion.
01:07:37.340So our partner, Silver Gold Bull, has like an RSP, TFSA, RESP, all registered programs where you can actually just transfer it in and use it to purchase gold and silver.
01:07:51.780You have to store it with Silver Gold Bull, but it is that option if you're concerned about the stock market or the devaluation of currency.
01:08:01.920It should hold up better over the coming decades.
01:08:11.180I know that there was one person, an elderly individual who is already on old age security and CPP,
01:08:17.900and said, if I can get an account in a credit union, but my total income is government CPP and OAS, will that protect me or am I helpless regarding income due to me being government funded?
01:08:32.240So I was just asking that question on behalf.
01:08:35.520The banks don't have any control over CPP and OAS.
01:08:40.240And if they wanted to eventually say you have to be jabbed to receive your CPP or OAS, God forbid it comes to that, that's dealing directly with the government and has nothing to do with the banking system.
01:13:27.860I pray to God that they're going to end up in jail one day because of how nefarious it is what they're doing.
01:13:33.640But anyways, those bills were designed by this government that are keeping good people from working and as well going into the future will stop doctors from, according to their oath, what they've sworn is to first do no harm.
01:13:49.280And when they know that people are being injected with deadly vaccines or children with the immunizations, they have a duty to stand up.
01:13:59.820Then there will be Bill 44, 46, and 47.
01:14:03.560That's going to go into what's happening with the rezoning in cities.
01:14:06.880So it's going to be a great show because what's happening in B.C. other than Bill 31 and Bill 36, but these other bills are happening across Canada.
01:14:14.600And they're all tied into the land grabs in the 15-minute cities, UNDRIP, the U.N. Agenda 2030.
01:14:21.440So please make sure to join us next week.
01:14:23.100It's going to be another fantastic show.
01:14:24.600All right, finishing off, I'm going to read from Deuteronomy 23, 19 to 20.
01:14:32.340And I know I just finished talking a whole lot about Islam, but this has to do with the Empower Hour tonight with Brett Oland when we talked about CBDCs and banking.
01:14:47.360So the Bible says, we were talking about interest and different things like that as well.
01:14:51.200So the Bible says, you shall not charge interest to your countrymen.
01:14:55.420Shall we send this in a memo to Trudeau and the Liberals?
01:14:59.220So interest on any money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest.
01:15:04.720You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest,
01:15:09.440so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
01:15:15.620And so since Canada is based on biblical principles, I would like to, you know, for the government to get this into place.
01:15:23.700That means that immigrants, instead of all of our handouts and robbing us blind,
01:15:28.060they would actually have to pay interest on loans and the privilege of living in Canada.
01:15:35.000All right, and the final verse tonight is from Psalm 27, 2, 3.
01:15:39.400I just love this one, and I think that it's important that people know it says,
01:15:45.260When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
01:15:51.500Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.
01:15:55.700Even if I'm attacked, I will remain confident.
01:15:59.280And after all the heavy topics we've talked about tonight, it's good to embrace this psalm and know that the Lord is with us.
01:16:06.300He doesn't call us up to handle these types of missions without equipping us.
01:16:14.320And so I'm just so grateful and faithful to the Lord and that He is the way, the truth, and the life.
01:16:20.280And no one comes to the Father but through Him.
01:16:23.420So for all of you that may be unbelievers, may be from a different religion who are going to hear this,
01:16:31.700There may be things that are niggling within your spirit to say, yeah, you know, my religion is maybe empty or it is violent.
01:16:40.140And Christianity has always come in to help the widow and the orphan and the oppressed.
01:16:45.780And, you know, we created schools and we created hospitals and we were all and have been all about caring.
01:16:52.960And then the world has come in and they've polluted that.
01:16:57.580But Christianity, when a nation is fully believing in the Lord and our policies reflect that, there is life and there is peace and there is freedom.
01:17:09.720And I just want Canada to return to such a time as that and to honor the Lord.
01:17:24.660Today's episode was sponsored by Galatians 5.1 Freedom Coffee.
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01:18:46.120We have guaranteed rights in this country.
01:18:49.420We are putting chapters across the nation.
01:18:59.740We are going to be in every town and every city.
01:19:03.620And we are going to build communities within these communities of like-minded people who are actually going to care for one another again and love on each other and give each other the help when they're down.
01:19:14.560We are going to use the teams and the people that build within chapters to support our businesses.
01:19:22.620The government's actions are completely 100% unlawful.
01:19:29.520Judgment will again be found on justice and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
01:19:37.040You have a virtuous heart if you are here today pursuing freedom and righteousness.
01:19:45.400And then verse 23 comes along with a promise.
01:19:50.160God says he will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
01:19:59.680I take great comfort in that because I serve a mighty living God who has allowed us to go through this season of discomfort because we as a nation have turned our backs on him.
01:20:57.360I'm going to say God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you.
01:21:27.360God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and God bless you and thank you for my hope to find you again.