Why members have concerns about a possible credit union merger

Some members say they have concerns about a proposed merger of three Nova Scotia credit unions.

Voting on the merger is open to all members of East Coast Credit Union, Teachers Plus Credit Union and Valley Credit Union. Voting ends Tuesday night.

In 2017, Antigonish's Bergengren Credit Union merged with the Dartmouth-based East Coast Credit Union.

The East Coast Credit Union assures members, as it did last time, that there will be no job losses or branch closures within the first year after the merger.

But members say plenty changed after that. Branches on Kearney Lake Road in Halifax, Upper Stewiacke and Margaree closed.  

Colleen Cameron, a credit union member in Antigonish for almost 68 years, and her brother applied for a farm loan shortly after the last merger, but she was told she was ineligible because she didn't have a credit card.

"All my experience and interactions at the credit union prior to that point meant nothing," Cameron said, "and it's very disturbing." 

Cameron said she also believes little effort has been made made to let members know about the vote. She only found out by word of mouth.

It is posted on the East Coast Credit Union website, Cameron said, but she rarely uses it. 

Jennifer Benoit, vice-president of UNIFOR Local 2107, said morale is down among employees of the credit unions she represents in Antigonish, St. Andrews and New Glasgow.

She said that is due to decentralization of services and supports within the branches and a loss of decision-making power. 

"A credit union that's supposed to be the people helping people," Benoit said, "and when you take the people that are the decision-makers out of these communities, it's demoralizing." 

Don Beamish runs Larch Wood Canada in Margaree. The business makes cutting boards and custom countertops.

He was upset when the Margaree branch closed in 2019 without so much as a bank machine to replace it. People in the area now have to drive 35 minutes to the nearest branch in Inverness.

He said the inconvenience led Larch Wood to move its business to a bank after 16 years with the credit union.

Beamish said the loss of the branch was more than just an inconvenience in Margaree. The Margaree branch opened in 1936 in the hometown of Moses Coady and Jimmy Tompkins, who founded the credit union movement in Atlantic Canada. 

"Our community around here is working towards being more self-sufficient in food and all kinds of things," Beamish said, "and to have your financial institution pull out is a tough one." 

Ken Shea, CEO of East Coast Credit Union, said that keeping up with technology and services can be challenging for smaller organizations. He said bringing the co-operatives together might help them deliver better value while still maintaining connection

However, he maintains that decision-making power is not being taken away from the local branches.

"I think if we look at what we have today in comparison to what we did four years ago," Shea said, "the situation has not changed."