The May 2019 Central 1 Triennial Governance Review report has provoked too little discussion. Unfortunately, it reflects another incremental shift away from models of democratic ownership upon which the co-operative business model is based. This is another step in the effective ‘dis-mantling’ of second tier credit union entities as political agents for credit union members. […]
The brand equity in the term ‘credit union’ is something provincial credit unions may want to protect.
Technocracy is replacing democracy in our credit union world. The proud claims to consumer co-operative ownership are hollowing. The roles for member-owners and their representatives (elected directors) have narrowed. These changes have political and other implications. Our recent BC Advocacy Day delegation reflected the changing nature of our BC credit union system. Credit union executives […]
The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA) is conflicted. It says that it champions the successful future of (a) provincial credit unions and (b) federal credit unions, but it is not that simple. Unfortunately, a federal credit union growth strategy is based upon cannibalising the provincial credit union systems. In this last year the CCUA assumed […]
BC credit unions have declining political leverage. Banks and credit unions are created and nurtured as political accommodations. Banks are rooted in the constituencies they serve and the political clout of those constituencies, for good or bad. This is the core premise of Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit, […]
BC credit unions now have ‘two’ regulatory systems; the second one has been implemented using ‘opportunities’ within the Financial Institutions Act (‘FIA’), not envisioned under the FIA.
Co-operatives can value free markets without conflating these with capitalism, and the monopolies that result.
On paper, credit unions are ‘consumer owned’, but the reality is something different. Cooperative ownership is the unique feature of this form of business, each member-owner has one vote in major decisions, but as credit unions grow the ‘owners’ are eased out. Their control over the business is lost. In truth, consolidation means that member-owners, […]
