HOW fitting that the only remaining symbol of the venerable Saskatchewan Wheat Pool are the letters SWP, used for shares traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The company is now called Viterra after having purchased Agricore United. So all the institutions reflecting the desire of western Canadian farmers to change the balance of economic power in farming – Alberta Wheat Pool, Manitoba Pool Elevators, United Grain Growers (all combined in Agricore United), and the SWP – have disappeared.
I have no doubt that Viterra will be good at its job. It’s just that it is now doing a different job than the old farmer owned co-operatives did. Encouraging co-operation among farmers is no longer their mission. Increasing return on investment for shareholders is.
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The shift in name reflects a shift in values and that shift in values took place a long time ago. It took place when SWP changed from a co-operative organization owned by its farmer-members to a competitive enterprise owned by its shareholders.
Values exist within institutions because they direct human behaviour; they help to organize and direct our resources.
Institutions need to educate about and review their values on a regular basis for at least two reasons. Activities evolve over time and can become disconnected from values. In this case, our activities need to be revised. Cultures also evolve and values are always understood in relation to culture.
When values become disconnected from culture, the values need to be reinterpreted. Institutions that fail to educate about values can have members who are not committed to them. Institutions that fail to review their values can have practices that don’t make any sense.
When Sask Pool transformed itself from a farmer-owned co-operative to a shareholder-owned agribusiness, the rationale was one of financial necessity. The business environment had changed, the Pool needed capital and the best way to get it was from the equity markets.
However, the debate was carefully managed and many dissenters felt they weren’t given a full opportunity to make an alternative case.
Another way to think about that event was to say that there was already a disconnect within the organization between values and practice. The reorganization was a realignment based on different values.
Education is one of the seven values adhered to by co-operatives, as defined by the International Cooperative Association. The seven values are:
1. Voluntary and open membership.
2. Democratic member control.
3. Member economic participation.
4. Autonomy and independence.
5. Education, training and information.
6. Co-operation among co-operatives.
7. Concern for community.
So here’s a question for farmers and former members of the various co-operative organizations that died in order to make Viterra possible. When did the education and review of co-operative principles stop happening?
We have lots of other co-operative organizations in our society. Maybe the best examples are the credit unions that emerged in the same period of Canadian history as the wheat pools.
The first Canadian credit union was organized in 1900. Now almost one in six Canadians belong to one and they join 136 million people in 91 countries who do too.
In a recent survey a majority of Canadians reported that they received better service from credit unions than banks.
Forty years ago it would have been impossible to imagine the Pool no longer being a co-operative. Could the same thing happen to the credit union movement?
Christopher Lind writes frequently in the area of ethics and economics. He is director of the Toronto School of Theology.
