A 1993 publication celebrating the 70th anniversary of Alberta Wheat Pool sang the praises of the company’s co-operative structure.
“The pool is solely owned by the people it serves and its shares are not traded publicly, making it impossible for outsiders to secure a controlling block of shares,” it said.
Now, as the pool ponders the financial challenges of the future, some delegates are willing to change the song’s lyrics by abandoning that co-operative model.
Others vow to resist any threat to the co-operative nature of the company.
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The popular perception is that Alberta farmers are more market-oriented and less committed to co-operativism than their counterparts in Saskatchewan.
“Certainly the general social and political milieu in Alberta is more conservative,” said Terry Veeman of the University of Alberta’s department of rural economy. “I would think that this kind of move would be easier to make in Alberta.”
Bill Fedeyko of High Level is one delegate who thinks the co-operative model should be preserved in these unpredictable times.
He said that generalization doesn’t necessarily hold true for Alberta Pool members. “That’s why I think we’re going to struggle with this thing a lot more than Sask Pool did as to what direction we’re going to take.”
Fellow delegate Robert Ponto of Galahad is another who wants to retain the co-op structure.
“It’s important to me that the pool is a co-operative, and I think it’s important to most members,” he said.
Finances must be considered
But other delegates say a financially-sound company is more important and if that means abandoning the co-operative model, so be it.
“Once upon a time, being a co-op mattered,” said Lionel Bird, a 78-year-old delegate from Carstairs who wants the company to follow Sask Pool’s example. But nowadays, he said, the notion of loyalty to the pool has been pushed aside by bottom line considerations, especially among younger farmers.
Delegate John Zeinstra of Picture Butte agrees.
While saying he personally subscribes to the co-op philosophy, he fears that a strict adherence to traditional co-op notions will not work in today’s competitive business climate.
“If fertilizer is $10 cheaper across the road, the farmer will go for it,” he said. “He doesn’t look at the possibility of a $10 dividend at the end of the year. He looks for it now.”
Peter Galloway of Fort Saskatchewan, near Edmonton, said the pool’s co-op structure is becoming less of a priority to many of the members, but he expects there will be some “die-hard fundamentalists” who will resist change.
Change or die
“They’ll send the co-op to the grave in order to maintain that,” he said. Others will take a “more practical” outlook.
Marvin Fischer considers himself to be practical. A pool member for nearly 30 years and a delegate since 1987, the Hilda farmer said he has been immersed in the co-op movement all his life.
At first, he was skeptical of the restructuring idea, but experience has convinced him that changes the pool must make to remain competitive are harder to accomplish under a co-op structure.
“After you’ve been involved as many years as I have, you suddenly realize that in the co-op way of doing business, the wheels move a little too slowly,” he said. “You could be left in the dust as the competition becomes tougher and tougher.”
Members in his area, close by the Saskatchewan border, watched with great interest the debate that culminated in Sask Pool’s decision to go public with a share offering. At the risk of over-generalizing, Fischer said, Alberta Pool members over age 50 did not like what they saw, while younger members are willing to look at alternatives.
Kurt Klein, a University of Lethbridge economist, said there could be a regional split among pool delegates, with farmers from the northern half of the province more committed to the co-op structure.
“In areas like Vermilion and Vegreville and Peace River, there’s an awful lot of Saskatchewan-style politics up there,” he said.
There are more farmers in the north and that could affect the outcome of any debate, he said.
