Last night we told you about the dramatic letter from Vicente Canul, the General Manager of Corozal’s St. Francis Xavier Credit Union to the Registrar of Credit Unions Sydney Campbell. Canul swore to resist any outsider’s attempt to take control of the credit union. Speaking for his membership, his words were: “We will stand together united to fight any and all modern day oppressors and tyrants.” Well, we don’t know if Canul’s list included the Prime Minister, But if it didn’t he might want to update it.
As we said he would, Finance Minister Said Musa took the Credit Unions Amendment Bill to the House today. Mainly it proposes to give Registrar Sydney Campbell power to appoint an administrator to take over St. Francis Xaiver’s operation in the hope of giving the listing institution some stability. That’s because since September, when the union’s supervisory committee suspended the board, there’s been a continuing battle for control – and the registrar has been unable to settle it, no matter how many directives and threats he’s issued.
But now, he has this new law, and the Prime Minister explained how it will work.
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Minister of Finance
“The power of the Registrar to take over the management of a credit union temporarily is being enlarged. At present the Registrar can appoint an administrator if there is liquidity or other financial problems. The Bill will allow him to temporarily assume management if there are administrative or other difficulties which may jeopardize the stability of a credit union or the interest of its members.”
Hon. Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“They’ve created this new amendment so that ultimately they can get rid of Canul, they can rid of the members of the Supervisory Committee and appoint an administrator to take over the affairs of this credit union with forty odd million dollars in assets and six million dollars cash in the bank. This is a bill that has been brought to this house with one specific purpose” to frustrate the membership of the St. Francis Xavier Credit Union and to put Mr. Vincente Canul firmly in his place.
You might say what you like about Mr. Canul but what you cannot say about Mr. Canul is that he is in anyway dishonest. He is almost like the legendary founder who continues to head the HRCU, where no breath of scandal crosses their board. Whatever you want to say about Mr. Canul, everybody in Corozal, every member of the credit union knows that defends mightily, with every fiber of
his being, the rights of the membership of the credit union and guards their money jealously like it is his own.
Madam Speaker there is going to be trouble in Corozal. There is going to be trouble in Corozal, these people have indicated they are not going to stand idly by and allow this thing to happen. The proper thing to do, the democratic thing to do is to allow the meeting, called for the second of December to be proceed and let the will of the people prevail. Remember that in order to resolve this thing in their favor, Mr. Canul and the membership must secure a two-thirds majority at that meeting. What can be better than that?
But the government comes riding in with its heavy hand, with its iron fist to try and trample these people into the dirt, to dictate to them, to impose its will on them. I sound the warning again before I sit down Madam Speaker, there will be trouble in Corozal if they insist on doing what they set out to do here.”
Rt. Hon. Said Musa,
“What’s all the rabble rousing about? What are we trying to stir up? What are we trying to stir up? We must want to work for peace and harmony. Let’s pick sense out of some of the nonsense we’ve been hearing from the other side...you talking about disrespect when your leader is calling me dishonest in this House. What kind of respect is that? There you go. Madam Speaker this is the level of dirty politics that we have come to in this country. Such blatant, hate-filled, ill-conceived deceptive type of politics. That is the politics you may practice Leader of the Opposition. I am not interested in that kind of politics. We are going to beat you anyway!
The government or no member on this side of the House has anything to gain from it, politically or otherwise. It is a thorny issue, a difficult issue, and some might say why touch it when we are heading towards an election. But the truth of the matter is Madam Speaker, we have a responsibility. A government must govern and when we see what is happening in that particular credit union in the Corozal District and indeed a credit union that goes beyond the Corozal District, the second largest in the country, it is a tragic situation.
Let me say there is nothing in this Bill designed to attack any one, not Mr. Canul or anybody else for that matter. This Bill is designed to ensure that there is fairness and that there is clarity about what the law is so that everybody knows what is their respective role. But there is a very fundamental principle at work here and that is the principle of natural justice. How can you allow a lower level body like a supervisory committee to suspend members of a board who are elected by the general membership for three years? They are elected for three years and let me say Madam Speaker, let me say, that that three years will come to an end in March of next year. So I don’t know what this fuss is all about? Why can’t they wait?
This is not as the leader;s language used, an ad hominem attack against anyone. I don’t know Mr. Canul. I’ve heard so many things about Mr. Canul, some of it very good, some of it critical...well that is one thing in his favor. That is a great descendant of Marcus Canul, fine. But we don’t even know if...anyway, we’re not going to get into that.
The important point here Madam Speaker is that this law is not designed to attack or to go against Mr. Canul or anybody else. It is designed to create natural justice, fairness, and certainty in a very important industry for this country, the credit union movement.”
And while Barrow predicts trouble ahead and the Prime Minister hopes for peace at St. Francis Xavier, the next few days will certainly be contentious. It is expected that unless some magical compromise is reached, the Registrar will appoint an administrator to unseat Canul, the Supervisory Committee and the pro tem board. For his part, Canul has reportedly planned a membership meeting on December third to expel the board members as union members, which would inarguably disqualify them from sitting on the board. We’ll keep a very close eye on things at Corozal’s largest lending facility.
