Gauvin is a long-time supporter of co-operatives and a former employee of the department of co-operation with the Saskatchewan government. He writes from Swift Current, Sask.
As a long time co-operator, I firmly believe that co-operatives and credit unions are as important today as they were 50 to 100 years ago and our co-operative organizations are a very important and necessary part of our business world.
They also contribute to many communities large and small, and I like to think their primary purpose remains the same and that is to serve their members.
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I am, however, somewhat concerned as to what is happening in our co-operative and credit union world relative to our co-operative philosophy, particularly among the younger generation.
There seems to be the impression that co-operatives and credit unions are just another business.
They seem to be more concerned with the price of goods at the counter instead of relying on patronage dividends.
It is possible we as co-operators have not done a good job of passing the message on.
In years gone by, I suspect that had it not been for co-operatives and credit unions, many pioneers may have found it difficult to continue with their livelihood, particularly in the area of agriculture.
Another concern is when I see a number of co-operatives disappear in name. It seems we are somewhat afraid to be called co-operatives anymore.
A few examples are Co-operative Trust, Co-operative Dairy Producers, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and others.
In some cases, not only the name is gone but the co-operative structure under which they operated is also gone.
When some of these were formed, it was a way of surviving among the giants of industry. It seems that affluence has changed our mindset as to our co-operative philosophy.
Governments have at times also played a part in diminishing our co-operative philosophy.
On the other hand, it’s interesting to note what is happening in a few communities in that groups of farmers have banded together as they did 50 to 100 years ago to pool their resources in order to establish a business to market their products and achieve their goal and be able to compete with large corporations, an example being independent grain terminals.
While the earnings are distributed differently, the co-operative aspect of working together remains the same.
As for credit unions, a similar thing is happening in that we are starting to lose some of our identity as a financial co-operative.
One example is the erosion of the hands and globe, a long-time credit union symbol. Also, while the name credit union is still required with an incorporated name, the words credit union are either disappearing or so small that it’s hard to see without a magnifying glass.
While visiting a medium-sized city in Alberta, I could not find the credit union because the name was not visible on the building. The name was community financial service or something similar.
In another case, only the capital letters of the city were used along with the words “financial services” behind it.
I was told the reason was because some local people don’t recognize their credit union as a primary financial institution.
I would suggest that either they do not understand credit unions or it is possible we have not done a very good job of communicating our purpose.
On the Prairies we seem to have lost our only credit union magazine, The Credit Union Way. I’m glad we have the Enterprise, a publication from British Columbia Central to help us keep up to date on credit union and co-operative affairs in co-operative land.
Credit unions and co-operatives are certainly still providing local community support, both financially and by volunteers.
A number of sports and entertainment complexes are being sponsored by credit unions and under agreement, which provides these communities with considerable financial assistance.
While this is helpful and great, it seems the name credit union is not always very visible and is becoming secondary.
Another area of concern is the ferocity in the way some credit unions are competing among each other.
I know of one case in a large city where three credit unions are competing with each other on each side of the street.
On one hand we are consolidating our credit unions to gain benefits by pooling our resources to try and gain advantages through the economy of scale and larger volume base.
Now it seems competition among credit unions is growing and for what reasons I’m not sure.
I would suggest that we have enough competition with the many other financial institutions in the country that we should not need to compete with each other for growth in any particular area.
I certainly hope we are not getting so big that we lose our real purpose: that of serving our members, even if there are costs attached to that service.
History will show whether co-operatives and credit unions will continue to flourish without the true co-operative philosophy, and if they do survive, will they just be considered another business?
