Economic contributions | Panelists say co-op members require education to be effective
The economic resiliency of co-ops can help stabilize local economies, says a sociology professor from the University of Saskatchewan.
Michael Gertler told the National Farmers Union’s annual convention in Saskatoon that the increasing level of distrust of other economic models means the time is right for a renaissance in the co-operative movement.
“They are fundamentally different in design and goals and operating practices (than corporations),” Gertler said during a Nov. 22 panel discussion.
“They are vehicles for the concentration of wealth, but not wealth in just a few hands. They don’t facilitate the sale of assets or the off-shoring of jobs.”
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He said studies have found that co-ops had a much higher survivability rate then other businesses during the recent economic downturn.
Yuill Herbert of Tatamagouche, N.S., founding director of the Sustainability Solutions Group, described how the Mondragon Corp., a federation of worker co-ops based in Spain’s Basque region, has helped people in the area weather economic turmoil.
“While unemployment in Spain has risen to 25 percent, in the Basque region it hasn’t risen above 10 percent,” Herbert said.
He said an important part of the Mondragon organization is its ability to provide capital to member co-ops, something with which Canadian co-ops sometimes struggle.
The Canadian Co-operative Association is developing a national co-operative investment fund that will soon be available for co-op start-ups and expansions in Canada. Herbert said the fund would provide capital for higher-risk ventures, while credit unions tend to be more risk adverse.
Kyle Korneychuk, a farmer from Pelly, Sask., said he is concerned about the future of co-ops and credit unions in Canada. Even though many co-ops are in relatively good financial position, it will be difficult for members to maintain control.
”Co-ops will be modernized and brought into the new model of business, the corporation, and members will become shareholders rather than owners,” he said.
“It will not be the fault of the co-op structure, but rather the fault of the members who sit idly by and watch this happen because they are too busy doing other things.”
Korneychuk said a variety of trends undermine co-op principles:
- lack of support between co-ops
- direct competition, such as when Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was allowed to build elevators in Alberta and Manitoba
- shift of concern from community to maximizing profit
- lack of training and information provided to members
- erosion of local control, as with how Federated Co-operatives Ltd. sets prices and gives direction on the hiring of personnel in local co-ops, which promotes member apathy
“The easiest way to kill an organization is to kill the interest of its members,” Korneychuk said.
“It doesn’t matter how many guiding principles there are, if no one know them, if no one is following them, if no one enforces them, then what good are they?”
