-by Darlene Anne Doucet Cheticamp
This is a bit long but I believe it’s essential that members of Acadian Credit Union hear the reasons why a merger is dangerous since the board and employees are only talking about the positives.
I was raised on strong community/co-operative values. I’m proud that my parents instilled those values in me. So proud in fact, that I get emotional when I see these values erode in my community.
Chéticamp has a strong and rich Acadian and co-operative history. The two go hand-in-hand. A hundred years ago, life was very hard for Acadians in the broader Chéticamp area. Our generation still remembers what it was like when Acadians were expropriated from the national park while the English maintained their lands. Acadians knew the importance of looking out for one another. They learned how to do that economically through the co-operative system. Father Tompkins, Father Coady and Alexandre Boudreau helped educate our ancestors; for them to understand how they could become “masters of their own destiny.”
I strongly believe giving up control of a strong financial co-operative is a big mistake for our community. The other co-operatives in the greater Chéticamp area will get to vote as members of Acadian Credit Union. I can’t imagine the justification for a board of a co-operative voting for the closure of another co-operative. For 90 years, Acadian Credit Union has returned millions of dollars in our small community in salaries, loans, investments, mortgages, donations and profits. Donations alone have been staggering because we have been profitable and still are. The co-operative movement gave the communities economic control. Co-operatives built our community.
The benefits of a merger could be had by partnering with other financial institutions under service agreements rather than giving up local control.
Bottom line, we don’t need to close our credit union to thrive.
A merger sounds harmless but in reality, it means closing our independent credit union to become a branch of East Coast Credit Union. Voting yes to the merger is voluntarily closing Acadian Credit Union. East Coast Credit Union can decide a few months or years down the road that certain functions can be done more efficiently at another branch, so some employees might be given a severance package, others might relocate, others might work from home, while others might be out of a job altogether.
The Board of Directors of Acadian Credit Union have not done their due diligence in acting on behalf of the membership. How long have employees known about this possible merger? What do they have to gain? Why was it announced in the media before the owners knew anything about it? The special resolution was shared on screen only, with no motion or vote. How can a special resolution be tabled without a motion and vote?
If the vote is “yes” to merge, this will fly in the face of what our grandparents and great-grandparents scraped every penny to build a better future for our generation. We should be protecting what they built, not give it away.
It’s just plain sad.