Wiebo Ludwig
| Wiebo Ludwig | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 December 1941 Haulerwijk, Friesland, Netherlands |
| Died | 9 April 2012 (aged 70) near Hythe, Alberta, Canada |
| Known for | suspect in the 2008–09 British Columbia pipeline bombings |
Wiebo Arienes Ludwig (19 December 1941 – 9 April 2012) was the leader of a Christian community named Trickle Creek, just outside Hythe, Alberta, Canada. He was best known for his legal problems arising from his conflict with the oil and gas industry. He was convicted in R v Ludwig [2000] AJ v509 at 293 on several counts (see infra) for sabotaging oil and gas wells. From the early 1990s until the time that he died, Ludwig consistently accused the industry of poisoning his family and farm through their attempts to extract toxic sour gas from the Peace River region of Alberta.
Ludwig was born during World War II and emigrated to Canada with his family from Friesland in the northern part of the Netherlands shortly after the war. He had seven older siblings. The family maintained strong religious beliefs and most kept ties with the Dutch Reformed Church or held some form of Baptist beliefs. In his early life, Ludwig worked as a carpenter and as a drywaller. He later studied pastoral ministry at Iowa's Dordt College which is associated with the Christian Reformed Church. While studying at Dordt, Wiebo met his future wife, Mamie, with whom he later had eleven children. Ludwig completed his pastoral education at the Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
After Ludwig completed his pastoral education, his initial application for ordination was rejected, possibly because his leadership style was perceived as being too authoritarian. He successfully appealed the decision and went on to lead two churches in Goderich, Ontario. Ludwig's leadership of the churches was controversial. In 1985, he led a group of his supporters to settle in a remote farming community near Hythe, Alberta, approximately 500 km northwest of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The small farming community started with a quarter section (160 acres), eventually added another, and grew into a self-sustaining community. The property contains several dozen buildings, including a biodiesel refinery, a greenhouse, and a mill. After the addition of windmills and solar panels, the community became capable of generating its own power, and a large computer-controlled boiler generates heat for the community's houses. Ludwig named the community "Trickle Creek".
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