SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Sale of MEC assets
September 30, 2020
Honourable senators, on September 14, the papers broke the news that Mountain Equipment Co-op was going to be sold to private investors from the U.S. Naturally, Canada’s cooperative community was rattled by the news. MEC, Canada’s largest retail cooperative, which until recently had 22 stores across the country, was going to be sold to a foreign firm. But the story doesn’t end there. It turns out the cooperative’s roughly 5 million members found out about the sale at the same time as everyone else, from the newspapers. They received no notice from the board of directors, nor were they involved in the decision-making process. They were not consulted at all.
Many Canadians reacted strongly to the news, and a number of them have rallied to save this Canadian cooperative. They have raised funds to defend the members’ interests in court, and a petition opposing the sale of MEC has garnered more than 140,000 signatures so far.
The board’s decision to sell MEC’s assets was unfairly sprung on the cooperative members. While the board is free to make such decisions, it does have obligations toward the members. Many questions about this whole business remain unanswered.
Why were members not consulted? Why were they not invited to express their views on alternative solutions available to cooperatives?
The very foundation of the cooperative model rests on its members and their involvement as consumers and owners. By placing the cooperative under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the board deliberately hindered the democratic process and denied its members the opportunity to propose alternatives.
For now, MEC’s future as a Canadian cooperative is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that MEC’s demise does not mean the end of the cooperative sector. With its strength and ability to adapt to competition while giving back to the community, the cooperative model has proven itself time and time again over the years across Canada. I’m thinking in particular of Agropur, Desjardins Group, Arctic Co-op, CCUA, Sollio Cooperative Group and so on. This business model deserves to be promoted and to be part of the solutions proposed by the government so that our communities can meet the many challenges brought about by COVID-19.
Based on cooperative values, such as collaboration, sharing and democratic control, this proven business model is in the spirit of a fair economic recovery for all Canadians. Cooperatives can and must be part of the solution. Thank you for your attention.