CANORA - During the week of April 24 - 26, Gateway Co-op held annual information meetings in Canora, Buchanan and Sturgis to review the 2022 fiscal year.
Heather Prestie, office manager, led off the reports with the financial story. She reported on the balance sheet indicating that assets increased approximately $1.8 million with the majority of this increase due to an increase in inventory.
“Members share capital increased $209,000 which was as a result of the current year allocation being netted with equity repayments of $845,000 paid during the fiscal year,” said Prestie.
“Memberships continue to rise with 336 new memberships being sold during the year. Sales increased to $49,504,226 and margins were 16.2 per cent. After operating expenses, the local savings amounted to $708,336.
“The allocation that was received from Federated Co-operatives Limited totaled $1,245,786 for a net savings after income tax of $1,758,594. Approximately $1,011,000 will be allocated to the membership.”
General manager’s report
Brad Chambers followed with the general manager’s report. He began by sharing the results of Gateway’s first year of working with a program called Loop.
“Loop was started in the Canora Food Store to help reduce the organic waste created by the site while providing local agriculture producers a food source for their animals and reducing the number of pests that are attracted to the Food Store site,” said Chambers.
He then highlighted items of interest from each Gateway Co-op location.
“The three food locations experienced small growth over the previous years with the exception of our Sturgis location,” said Chambers.
“We were able to acquire a liquor license in the town of Sturgis as well as we added a full-service fresh meat department helping to drive the sales at that location to over $2.5 million. We have acquired a piece of land on Highway 9, which is the location for a proposed new Food Store project. We are currently working to create a detailed ROI and once that is complete, we will continue discussions at the board level.”
He indicated that a project is starting immediately at the Canora Food Store that will see the addition of fried chicken and wedges.
“Another recent upgrade at the Canora Food Store was the implementation of the Electronic Shelf Label program that eliminates the use of paper signage and eliminates the need to sort, fold and hang paper signs.”
All departments within the Preeceville Home Centre facility have seen growth.
“Inflation in fuel prices has driven the growth in both the C-Store and Petroleum departments while the Home Centre has continued to see consistent growth in all commodities,” said Chambers. “Last year, the team introduced outdoor water sports to the lineup which went over exceptionally well, and they have re-booked for a bigger year this year with canoes and kayaks.”
Buchanan had an increase in sales that was driven by an increase in card lock sales at the location. In 2022, the shopping carts were replaced at this site.
Chambers thanked the membership for their patience while Gateway worked through the challenges of the new changes.
Board chair’s report
The final report of the evening was presented by Lyle Olson, board chair. Olson covered similar information as previous reports but also indicated that a 30 per cent general repayment was approved by the board of directors. Members should expect to see equity statements and general repayment cheques being distributed in early June in conjunction with a social event of some nature, whether it be a pancake breakfast or a barbecue.
“We continue to give back to the community, and in 2022, we gave back approximately $24,000 in cash and kind to our communities,” said Olson. “Some of the larger donations included the Health Foundation, the food bank, 4-H, and snowmobile clubs. We also gave lesser amounts to local groups and clubs.”
Olson thanked management and staff for the great effort to serve Gateway members and thanked the members for their continued support and patronage.
He referred to the Canora Cardlock upgrade that was finished in the prior year and that it is performing nicely. He indicated that there have been some delays in both the Sturgis Food Store project and the chicken program in Canora, but both programs appear to be moving forward nicely.
One of the pillars of the Co-operative is governance.
“The board continues to avail itself of education opportunities and to keep abreast of economic, financial and market trends,” said Olson. “The board and management have begun a thorough review of the policies that guide our Co-op and to that end, the board receives, reviews, and then approves at least three policies at each [board] meeting.”
Olson indicated that in 2022, the board completed a review of the bylaws of Gateway Co-op. On March 20, the recommendations for bylaw updates were presented to the delegate body for review and approval.
He highlighted a few of the changes in bylaws that would impact elections. The section referencing qualifications of a delegate was updated to increase the minimum purchases required to $4,000 from $2,000. The sections referencing the qualification of a director had this purchase increase as well as the need to be able to provide a criminal record check that does not impede Co-operative operations, must have been a member of Gateway Co-op for two years and cannot have been a Gateway Co-op employee in the preceding two years.
Olson also reviewed the section of the bylaws that pertained to the number of delegates per district. The previous bylaws provided 10 delegates to the Canora District, while each of the remaining three districts were provided only five delegates. The bylaw change that was approved decreased the number of Canora delegates to be the same as the other districts.
A meeting was called by the Canora Directors for March 23 to respond to any changes that may be required to the Canora Delegate structure if the bylaw change was passed on March 20 at the All Delegate Meeting. The Canora District meeting was attended by four delegates. These four individuals allowed their names to stand for the five Canora Delegate positions, which left one Canora District position vacant.
Upon the conclusion of his presentation, a question was asked about the allocation rates. Olson advised that 3.5 per cent will be allocated on petroleum and propane products, 2.0 per cent on food, 2.0 per cent on hardware, lumber and agro, and 1.0 per cent on liquor.
The podium was then turned over to Brad Chambers for the election of delegates at each meeting.
Motions and elections
In Buchanan on Tuesday evening, the election of delegates saw both Eric Sorestad and Derk Vander Voort acclaimed to the delegate body as returning members. The remaining delegates in Buchanan are: Tammy Senholt, Trish Shewchuk and Monte Sorestad. A draw for a $500 gift card concluded the evening.
The Canora District meeting was held on Wednesday evening and proved to be more eventful than the previous meetings. There was substantial discussion regarding the change of the bylaws as it related to the number of Canora District delegates, the effective date of the bylaw changes and the four delegates that comprise the Canora District delegate body going into the Annual Information Meeting.
A motion was presented by a member to have all delegates removed from office and have elections for all five positions. This motion was tabled since there was no notice provided to the Canora District members that such motion would be brought to a vote.
A second motion was brought to the floor to not complete an election for the one member term that was expiring and for the vacant position. This motion was brought to a vote and was passed by a small majority of the members present at the meeting.
The chairperson advised the membership in attendance at the meeting that if they choose to have a special resolution voted on by the membership, they will need to gather sufficient signatures from Canora District members to request the board of directors call an additional district meeting.
Once this documentation is received, the board would then call the meeting and provide sufficient notice to the membership of the meeting and the motion to be reviewed at said meeting.
The meeting concluded with the Canora District having three delegates: Pat Popoff, Tammy Bobyk and Holly Masters.
A draw for a $500 gift card concluded the evening.
