Kathy Bardswick, President  & CEO of The Co-operators Group, used her pre-budget presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to highlight the role the co-operative sector plays in contributing to Canada’s economic productivity and social well-being. Ms. Bardswick provided examples of co-op contributions in the areas of housing, health care and immigration, and encouraged the government to develop a long-term strategy to advance collaboration between co-operatives and the many levels of government. A copy of Ms. Bardswick’s speaking notes is available for download.

Wayne Nygren, President and CEO of Credit Union Central of British Columbia, has announced his intention to retire in April 2006. Mr. Nygren, 60, joined BC Central in 1981 as Vice-President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.  He was appointed President and CEO  in 1985. Mr. Nygren is a director of Credit Union Central of Canada and is currently serving on the board of the World Council of Credit Unions. He was a founder of the Canadian Payments Association and was a director from 1993 to 2002, and continues to serve as an alternate director.

Co-op Atlantic and Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-operative were the big winners at the Maritime Business Ethics Awards, held in Halifax on November 3. Just Us! won the award for businesses with between 26 and 99 employees. Co-op Atlantic, which received the award for businesses with more than 100 employees, was recognized for its commitment to sustaining and growing the region’s food production sector by supporting every stage of the food production cycle.

The Co-operatives Secretariat has released its list of the top 50 non-financial co-operatives, based on 2004 data. The results show strong growth for the sector with a six per cent rise in revenues over 2003 and an 11 per cent increase in assets.

Federated Co-operatives Limited ranked number one for the fourth straight year with revenues of $4.2 billion. The Saskatchewan-based co-operative provides jobs for nearly 3,000 employees. La Coop Fédérée , with revenues of nearly $2.9 billion, was second on the list. It ranked as the number one employer on the list with nearly 10,000 employees. Mountain Equipment Co-op continues to have the largest member base of all co-ops, with over 2.1 million memberships.
The top 50 co-ops provide full-time employment to more than 30,000 people and part-time positions for an additional 6,800 people. Total membership for these co-ops was over three million individuals in 2004. Additionally, seven of the co-ops on the list are wholesalers to over 550 member co-operatives, which in turn serve over 1.2 million Canadians.

To view the list go to www.CoopsCanada.coop/aboutcoop/cancoopsectorprofiles/.

The Co-operators Group Limited marked a milestone in its 60-year history as the inaugural Quebec Region Committee meeting of member-owners was convened in Montreal, October 28. The committee was created after two co-operative organizations with significant presence in Quebec, La Coop Fédérée and Mountain Equipment Co-op, joined long-time member-owner the Co-op Housing Federation of Canada to form the Quebec Region Committee. Three member-owners are required for the creation of a Region Committee and for eligibility to elect a director to the board of The Co-operators Group.

In welcoming delegates, The Co-operators President and CEO Kathy Bardswick said, “our vision of having an organization with its governance truly reflective of all regions in Canada is being realized in this inaugural meeting.”

Credit unions rank higher than banks and other financial institutions in most customer service measures, according to the 2005 Synovate Customer Service Index, an independent national survey. Credit unions ranked highest in:

• Overall quality of customer service
• Values “my” business
• Staff service at “my” branch
• Information handling and communications
• Financial products and services
• Interest rates and service charges.

The survey had responses from 8,141 people, including 1,047 credit union members. The study was conducted by mail from July 11 to August 24, 2005. Synovate, one of the largest full-service marketing research consultancies in Canada, has been conducting the survey annually since 1987.

SaskCentral has established the Entrepreneurial Foundation of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Entrepreneurial Fund in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan. The two entities will provide Saskatchewan entrepreneurs with knowledge and resources they need to build businesses and grow Saskatchewan. The Entrepreneurial Foundation of Saskatchewan will provide advisory services, training, and mentorship to entrepreneurs in the commercial start-up and expansion stages of their initiatives. It will also offer a gateway to the Saskatchewan Entrepreneurial Fund for up to $1 million in investment financing.

Representatives of four foreign development projects signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine’s State Commission for Regulation of Financial Markets, committing to work together to build a unified credit union system in that country. The signatories included the European Union’s TACIS Rural SME’s Support project, the German Government’s GTZ/DGRV Rural Finance Support project, the Canadian International Development Agency-funded Ukraine Credit Union Strengthening project, as well as the Polish National Association of Credit Union’s Training Support project.  Signing on behalf of the Canadian project were Kathleen Speake, Director Asia and Eastern Europe for the Canadian Co-operative Association, and Olha Zawerucha-Swyntuch, President of the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada. 

The MOU gives new hope for the revival of the credit co-operative movement in Ukraine, which began in 1991. Such multilateral agreements among foreign donor agencies are rare and the accord exemplifies the strong co-operative spirit among those that created this unique partnership. 

During Co-op Week, the Honourable Wayne Easter, Parliamentary Secretary with special emphasis on Rural Development, met with the Executive Directors and Presidents of the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and the Conseil Canadien de la Coopération (CCC), as well as CCA Vice President Bill Dobson, to discuss key issues such as capitalization and support for co-op development.

In April 2003, the Federal Government implemented the Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI), a five-year, $15 million national partnership between the Government and Canadian co-operatives. Eighty-seven Innovation and Research projects worth over $4 million dollars have been approved under this initiative. This is in addition to the $5 million dollar partnership with CCA and CCC, which provides advisory services to individuals and communities wanting to develop co-ops.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with the CCA and CCC, and seeing innovative co-ops being developed through programs such as CDI,” Mr. Easter said in a news release issued November 4.

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) of Canada recently awarded BC’s Prospera Credit Union and Insurance Agencies a Silver Leaf Award of Merit for its innovative employee magazine, goodprospects. The award was presented on October 16, during IABC Canada’s National Conference, in Halifax.

goodprospects is a bi-monthly employee magazine providing a platform for employees to share professional, and sometimes personal, achievements with their peers in a storytelling format.

Silver Leaf is Canada’s premiere professional awards program celebrating excellence in business communication. This year, the award program received 178 submissions and awarded 18 winners.