Dear Coward,
My name’s Chuck. You may know me from the radio. Since I first read your letter, I’ve asked myself what kind of person anonymously threatens a mother and her three children.
You seem proud that you own your condo in St. Albert. Apparently, that makes you more of a solid citizen than Mrs. Anderson because she only rents.
READ MORE: Threatening letter that says ‘this isn’t a reserve’ prompts Alberta family to move
Well, I am going to rent you at no charge some common sense Canadian values. In this country, we treat people equally whether they own or rent. So neighbours treat neighbours like neighbours.
I have spent many years living on the prairie, and over those years I haven’t been to too many neighbourhoods where neighbours wouldn’t help neighbours. Sometimes it’s a flood. Sometimes it’s a fire. Sometimes it’s a bad accident.
Sometimes it’s that someone’s going hungry because something’s happened to the family. Or that someone got laid off. Or that someone ran off and people know the kids don’t have what they need.
Bags of groceries appear at the door because people care about their neighbours and they were brought up in a world where they believe it’s much better to give than to receive.
LISTEN BELOW: Charles Adler reads the letter to the family in St. Albert, then reads his own letter in response.
In your letter, you mention football and basketball, how the kids are playing those sports, outdoors of all places, and how you don’t like the noise.
Have you considered finding a spot where you could put up a couple of nets and have them play a little road hockey? If you passed around the hat, I’m sure you’d find some neighbours who might want to chip in for some nets and sticks and maybe encourage other kids to play with the kids whom you say don’t apparently belong in your backyard.
You mention you think they belong on the reserve. Do you know why so many live on reserves? Because their land was stolen from them a number of years ago. Some people keep telling them to get over it — that it was a long time ago and attitudes have changed and today’s Canadians aren’t bigoted like the ones who took the land and put the people in remote areas where settlers hoped they would just disappear of disease or poverty or both.
READ MORE: Community north of Edmonton rallies around family that received hateful letter
I’m confident that’s what you would want for Mrs. Anderson and her kids. People like you, Coward, make it impossible for many people to get over it. You make it hard for them to get past the pain of feeling hated when people like you feel so comfortable hating them.
By the way, Coward, I don’t want you to think that I believe you represent the majority of people in your community. One of the things I think about when it comes to Alberta is the fact there is no part of Canada as supportive of our Forces like Alberta. Many who live there are on active duty and many veterans have retired there. Many of them in St. Albert.
There is a special place in my heart for Canadians who wear or wore the uniform because without them, my parents wouldn’t have survived the hate that infested the land they were born in, where cowards like you wanted to take away their homes and their jobs because, like you, they didn’t feel that people like my parents were fit to live among them.
The Canadian military went to war against them. And I can never thank them enough for that. How do I ever find the right way to say thank you to people who rescued my family and gave me a chance to be born and have a life?
Well, Coward, you’re giving me that chance. I’m on the side of your neighbours who support the military and the values that they stand for.
WATCH BELOW: Community rallies behind St. Albert family after hateful letter
My guess is that you’re a parent. My guess is your kids don’t know that you threatened the neighbour’s kids. If the RCMP finds you — and I’m told they are looking for you — how will you explain to your children that you terrorized the family next door? What happens when their friends find out? What happens when one of their friends tells your kids that mom or dad is a terrorist?
If I were you, Coward, I’d turn myself in, confess, and ask Mrs. Anderson and her kids for their forgiveness, and ask your neighbours for forgiveness, and do some things to redeem yourself in the eyes of the community that you claim to care about.
If you can’t figure out what those things are, just ask me. I’ll be happy to rent you a list of common sense ideas at no charge.
Why would I do that for you? Because whether you live right next door to me or in the province next door, you’re my neighbour and in this country, neighbours help neighbours, especially when they’ve driven into a ditch. And it seems you’ve driven into a pretty big one and I’d like to tow you out.
Charles Adler hosts Charles Adler Tonight on Global News Radio and is a columnist for Global News.