Motive of troll questioned

Dear Cliff Gates: Yes, referring to your “Questionable Company” letter (Courier, March 16), the woman who made the comment is a relative of a close friend, a fellow whom I played soccer with for more than 20 years. He is beside me in the picture you obtained by trolling Facebook. So what?

As previously mentioned, the comment was not made by me, by anyone associated with Friends of Beach Avenue, nor anyone who lives in the Okanagan and does not reflect my views or those of anyone else in FOBA. We disassociated ourselves from the comment right away on the FOBA Facebook page, as was plain to see by all, including the present mayor.

And, as reported by many papers, the comment made was investigated by the RCMP, traced to the Lower Mainland, dismissed as not serious and apologized for by the commenter long before the present Mayor of Peachland made her statements implying it was serious and from someone in Peachland.

Since you checked this person’s Facebook page for photos, I tried to do the same to yours. But there is no Cliff Gates Yorkshire, UK on Facebook. Nevertheless, if you were on Facebook and had photos there of anyone associated with you, I’m sure you would agree that you are not responsible for their comments, especially a rogue comment like the one in question which did not help us and was used after the fact to smear us.

Such is the way of local politics at present in Peachland. The official community plan was changed here to benefit a developer in spite of over 75 per cent written opposition and 88 per cent oral opposition at the Peachland public hearing. And, try as you and others might, no smear campaign is going to divert attention from that.

I see you are from the UK. In addition to 540 folks on Facebook, I am also associated with relatives shot down flying for the RCAF in the Second World War to protect your country.

Based on their efforts and many like them, I understand that in the UK, as well as in Canada, I am not responsible for another individual’s comments.

Knowing that your transparent, pathetic attempt at guilt-by-association is actually more telling about you than it is about me.

Randey Brophey

Peachland