The teenagers huddled in the hallway of a Toronto hotel last June excitedly shared their experiences from the previous week.
Youth were spotlighted during one session in a triennial congress involving leaders and members of many of the nation’s co-operatives and credit unions.
They summarized their discussions from their Youth Congress, which ran concurrently to the main congress.
They talked about their concerns – rising education costs, uncertain job markets, lack of education on co-ops, and youth not being taken seriously as consumers.
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But they also presented possible solutions: summer student employment guarantee program, student discount cards, entrepreneurial loans, mentor programs, rŽsumŽ and interview workshops, co-ordination of co-op youth nationally, regular national youth forums, and involvement of youth in discussions about the future of co-ops at local board to national levels.
The teenagers got a standing ovation from the Canadian Co-operative Association members for their intelligence, emotion, and creativity.
Later in the hallway, one of the beaming teenagers shared with his friends what was one of the week’s highlights for him: He had shaken hands with Vern Leland, president of Federated Co-operatives Ltd.
To the aspiring young man, it was an important link to the people currently influencing co-operatives across the country.
The eagerness of the youths and the linkages they were making reflected hope for the future for the co-operative movement, which began 150 years earlier.
Co-operatives have changed greatly since a small group of people opened a little store on Toad Lane in Rochdale, northern England in 1844. From the 28 members who originally started that co-operative, there are now more than 700 million internationally who share the co-op philosophy.
The growth has not come without growing pains and changes. In Calgary in 1991, a congress of 300 representatives of co-ops and credit unions identified issues and priorities.
Their conclusions focused on seven common understandings:
- Broaden the understanding and awareness of co-operatives.
- Develop leadership within co-operatives.
- Improve capitalization.
- Represent the changing face of Canadian society.
- Support co-operative enterprise development in Canada and elsewhere.
- Represent co-operative policies to government at all levels.
At the second triennial congress in Toronto, held in June this year, four more areas were identified: organizational renewal, strategic alliances, diversity and youth.
Participants identified some common themes, particularly a sense of urgency.
Long-term survival
As CCA’s board of directors said in their congress summary: “Our continued relevance as co-operatives and credit unions depends on our ability to respond to the challenges of the marketplace and our communities. Our long-term survival rests on how we respond. We can create our futures together or have them imposed on us.”
Another common concern: succeeding in a competitive business environment. It was recognized that if co-ops don’t provide the products and services customers want, those customers will take their business elsewhere.
Again, from the congress summary: “If we are not conversant in the technological/information age, we will not access new markets, or achieve economies of scale. We will risk stagnation and loss.
“If we do not reflect our communities, especially youth in our co-operatives and credit unions, we will not have a vital membership or workplace to meet the future.
“If we do not reflect our communities, including women, First Canadians, new Canadians and the aging population will leave us behind.”
Embracing core values and principles was needed to renew organizations, participants said. Also, the roles of local, regional and national co-operative organizations needs to be worked on, they said. This includes sharing of best practices across co-op sectors, networking, collaborating on financing and applying new technologies, and finding quicker turnaround times for decisions within the democracy of a co-operative.
In the area of alliances, some agreed it was already happening but the potential for more alliances is great.
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool CEO Don Loewen told a trade panel seminar that week that strategic alliances can help companies “entering a larger, less familiar marketplace.” He said “obstacles can be encountered which are difficult if not impossible to overcome on our own.”
Loewen said alliances can add “critical resources and expertise which will open doors to new or larger opportunities.”
The pool, for example, has entered alliances with other co-operatives as well as privately held companies. These include links with Alberta Wheat Pool and Manitoba Pool Elevators in forming Western Co-operative Fertilizers Limited, XCAN Grain Pool Ltd., and Pacific Elevators Ltd.
Other joint ventures resulted in Prince Rupert Grain Ltd., and CanAmera Foods. Sask Pool also has alliances with private companies including Northco Foods Ltd., Prairie Malt Ltd., Dawn Foods Canada, Pound-Maker Agventures, Philom Bios, PrintWest Communications Ltd., and Bioriginal Food Science Corp.
In the last fiscal year, more than half of the company’s earnings came from non-traditional investments ($20.8 million of its $40.8 million profit).
As the demographics of the country changes, co-ops and credit unions also need to adapt to meet the needs of their changing members. The congress participants said these include being inviting and encouraging; changing membership bylaws and any barriers to entry; sharing demographic data on communities; initiating outreach programs; and seeking out new members and leaders.
Core functions
The congress observed that within the next three years CCA’s core functions would be followed: co-op education/information, government relations, international development and co-ordination.
Some of the new initiatives will include networking opportunities around renewal, alliances, diversity and youth; providing information on co-ops in new ways; a co-op member card; partnerships with government, educational institutions and community as well as co-op to co-op; and national bulk purchases.
There also needs to be a better definition for member organizations, regions and the national organizations of respective roles.
From October until next February, the three-year action plan is being presented to CCA member organizations and regions for agreement and buy-in. They will analyze the plan, look at how it supports their organizations and what their roles should be, and commit themselves to the plan for the future – and take a hopeful step toward at least another 150 years of existence.
