Analysis of the Government Relations between Credit Unions and Farm Credit Canada

About the presentation: 

Despite playing a pivotal role in the Canadian economy – credit unions serve more than 10 million people– their participation in policy advocacy (outside-in lobbying) and policymaking (inside co-design) remains understudied. Building on early scholarship suggesting that co-operatives are ill-suited to either role because of the often-divergent needs and interests of their membership, this research explores a case where credit unions have had to engage in advocacy and policymaking to protect their business and purpose against intrusions from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), a government-owned agricultural lender that, unlike other government lenders, operates in competition with the private sector and without a ‘complementarity’ mandate. This presentation will describe the evolving relationship between credit unions and FCC over the past 50 years, identify the lessons learned, and suggest its implications for future policy advocacy and policymaking efforts by the Canadian credit union sector.

About the speaker: 

Eylin Jorge Coto is currently completing her Master of Public Policy degree at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, while serving as a research assistant at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. Eylin has further held roles such as an intern for the Mayor's Office in Saskatoon, where she helped to coordinate the "Women Leading Civic Engagement Forum".

About the Fredeen Lecture:   

The Fredeen Lecture is hosted annually and features the research of the most recent recipient of the Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies. This scholarship is offered annually to a student who is conducting research on co-operatives, either entering or continuing studies in a master's or doctoral program at the University of Saskatchewan. 

Click here for more information :  https://usaskstudies.coop/news-and-events/talks-and-lectures.php