Agents for Change: Credit Unions in Saskatchewan by Christine Purden (review)

REVIEWS 239 emigration of thewaryears, thecommunity lostitsself-confidence andshrank to a minoritypositionin numbersaswellasin mentaloutlook. Professors Motut and Legrismustbe complimented for their excellent English translation andfor bringingthisfascinating andsignificant journalto our attention.The introductionby Professor L.G. Thomasis superband shouldbe read by thosewishingto understandthe Frenchexperiencein Alberta before World War •. •a•T•I MtYNRO University ofAlberta Agents for Change: CreditUnions in Saskatchewan. CI•R•ST•NE •'tYaDE•. Regina, CreditUnionCentral,198o.Pp.x, 293.$• •.95 cloth,$7.95paper. In many ways,co-operatives have been distinctiveforms of enterprise particularly appropriate to the Prairieexperience. Customarily though,the fewobservers whohavestudied themhaveexamined marketing orconsumer organizations. Thisisthefirstbooktolookanalytically atcreditunions, today the mostexpansionist kind of Prairie co-operative. It is to be welcomed, therefore,asa verysuccessful pioneering effort. Agents forChange explores thefirstfortyyears ofcredituniondevelopment in Saskatchewan. It tracesthe background, Europeanand Canadian,and suggests whycreditunions became established intheprovince duringthelate •93os.The longest section in thebookexamines theperiodbetween •942and 1969whentheprovincial organization, theSaskatchewan Co-operative Credit Society (subsequently the CreditUnionCentral),slowly forgeda degreeof provincialunity despitethe reservations of localcredit union leaders,the divisions createdby a savage battleover associations with Americancredit unionists, andgrowinguncertainties aboutthemovement's basic objectives. The lastthird of thebookdescribes the hecticchanges of the 197os, when complextechnological advances, the challenge of nationalorganizational activities, and a rapidly-changing provincialenvironmentcreatedimmense possibilities anddangers. Throughout, MsPurden relates thedevelopments to Saskatchewan's economic historyand,moreobliquely, to nationaleconomic patterns aswell. The thesis of theworkisthattheSaskatchewan movement developed a determined, effective leadership groupthatbuilta resourceful, innovative, andoftenidealistic setof institutions. Sheemphasizes thattheabilityofcredit unions tomeetneeds, theirresponsiveness tolocalsituations, andtheirearly deepassociation withtheprovince's co-operative traditions created apeculiarly Saskatchewan system of institutions, a system whichtodayhasconsiderable influence in theprovince. Ms Purden - and the Credit Union Central committee which worked with her- haveprepareda bookdifferentfrom allearlierstudies of co-ops and 240 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW creditunions. Theyfocussed oninstitutionalization andtechnological change, deliberately choosing to downplay- in fact,almosteliminate- the roleof personalities. Suchan approachis fraughtwith difficulties and provideda volume curiously devoidof importantelements ofcontext. Faceless menmake impersonal decisions; whatwereexciting, meaningful debates arepassed over or relegated to footnotes. Passion islost.Surelysucha drasticapproach was unnecessary. Interpreting theroleofindividuals andexplaining relationships amongdiffering groupsare essential tasksin any historicalanalysis; they cannot be done in a vacuum. In part, the deliberateattemptto eliminatethe crusaders, charismatic figures,andcareerist managers helpsto explainanothershortcoming: the weakconsideration of themovement's goals in Saskatchewan. MsPurdendoes listaseries ofmovement-related (asopposed tomereeconomic) activities inher penultimatechapter,but the discussion of purpose,so crucialto credit unionism today, isvague anddisappointing. Thechanges forwhichthecredit unions wereagents arenotasclearastheyshould be.Nowhere, forexample, is therean evaluationof the objectives of the seventies' leaders- the Brombergers andtheHansens - ortheircritics. It isanunfortunate deficiency because, sincethe 194os,the Saskatchewan credit union movementhas been the pacesetter inEnglish Canada. It hasalso beenthemost consistent inmaintaininga 'movement' ideology. These two major reservationsaside,though, this book is a welcome addition. For readers familiar with credit unions, it forces consideration of what rapid growthand remarkabletechnological changehavemeant.For thoseunawareof the influenceof co-operative financialsectors, it will be a revelation. It istobehopedthatit willbethecatalyst - if notinallrespects the model- for studies of otherprovincial creditunionsystems. IANMACPI-IERSON University ofVictoria Politics ofDefeat: the Decline oftheLiberal PartyinSaskatchewan. BARRY WILSON. Saskatoon, Western Producer PrairieBooks, 198o.Pp.17o.$9.95. The Politics ofDefeat isa chronicle of therapiddecline of theLiberalpartyin Saskatchewan from the defeatof the Thatchergovernment in I971 to the pointwherethe partynowhasno members eitherin the Legislature or in Parliament. Duringthefirsthalf of thiscentury,Saskatchewan, likeQuebec andNovaScotia, wasconsidered adependable 'Liberal'province. The virtual disappearance of the Liberal party in that provincethereforetakeson a dramatic character. Wilsondatesthedeclineof theprovincial Liberalpartyfrom PremierRoss Thatcher's second electionvictoryin 1967.Thatcherhadbeenelected to the HouseofCommons asaccvmemberin 1945.He was ontherightwingofthe ...