Since we launched the grassroots advocacy network a year and a half ago, membership has grown to 192 advocates.  That means we’ve got advocates in every part of the country who are able to connect with MPs and cabinet ministers at the grassroots.

We’d like to get that number to 200 this month – and with your help, we can do it!

Forward this issue of The Advocate to a friend, or click to “Refer a Friend” on the right hand column to let us know about a colleague you think would make a great CU Nation advocate.

This summer, CU Nation advocates met with twenty Members of Parliament in every region of the country during our very first “Hike the Hill at Home.” Advocates strengthened connections with Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture David Anderson; finance committee chair James Rajotte, and agriculture committee member Ben Lobb and plenty others.

Read more ….

Our “Hike the Hill” lobby day is a key piece of the CU Nation tool kit. But this year we’re doing it a little differently. 

In order to support our first “Hike the Hill at Home” and activities related to the International Year of Co-operatives, this year’s “hike” will be smaller and targeted to just a few key parliamentarians. As a result, participation in "Credit Union Executives Hike the Hill" this November will be limited to members of Canadian Central’s board and legislative affairs committee.

Our plan is to return to a regular “Hike the Hill” in the fall 2013.  If you have any questions drop us a line.

Smaller credit unions deal with a disproportionate share of the burden of regulatory compliance. That’s why our recent advocacy has focused on ensuring that the “small business lens” recommended by the federal Red Tape Task Force is applied to regulations in the financial sector.

Early this month, the federal government released its “Red Tape Reduction Action Plan”.  The plan states that regulators will be required to consider alternative approaches “when a significant regulatory change imposes over $1 million in annual nation-wide costs, or a disproportionate impact” on businesses with fewer than 100 employees – which includes 311, or nearly 87 percent of credit unions.

Our advocacy on this file will shift to focus on the guidelines and the implementation of the small business lens over the next three years.