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67-846: Meridian Credit Union Ltd. is a Canadian credit union . It was formed on 1 April 2005 through the merger of Niagara Credit Union and HEPCOE ( Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario Employees ) Credit Union. It is insured by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario . Meridian is the second largest credit union in Canada, and the largest credit union in Ontario, with more than 365,000 members with total assets under administration of over $ 28.5 billion. Meridian offers banking, wealth management, credit products and services through 89 branches, and fifteen Commercial Business Centres. Desjardins Credit Union (the Ontario affiliate of

134-550: A one-person-one-vote system , regardless of the amount they might have invested. Credit unions see themselves as different from mainstream banks, with a mission to be community-oriented and to "serve people, not profit". Surveys of customers at banks and credit unions have consistently shown significantly higher customer satisfaction rates with the quality of service at credit unions. Credit unions have historically claimed to provide superior member service and to be committed to helping members improve their financial situation. In

201-744: A certain threshold, such as the National Credit Union Administration ’s Share Insurance Fund or the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation . Credit unions as such provide service only to individual consumers. Corporate credit unions (also known as central credit unions in Canada) provide service to credit unions, with operational support, funds clearing tasks, and product and service delivery. Credit unions often form cooperatives among themselves to provide services to members. A credit union service organization (CUSO)

268-434: A credit union than with a big bank. "Natural-person credit unions" (also called "retail credit unions" or "consumer credit unions") serve individuals, as distinguished from " corporate credit unions ", which serve other credit unions. Credit unions differ from banks and other financial institutions in that those who have accounts in the credit union are its members and owners, and they elect their board of directors in

335-493: A half times more likely to fail during the crisis. American credit unions more than doubled lending to small businesses between 2008 and 2016, from $ 30 billion to $ 60 billion, while lending to small businesses overall during the same period declined by around $ 100 billion. In the US, public trust in credit unions stands at 60%, compared to 30% for big banks. Furthermore, small businesses are 80% more likely to be satisfied by

402-453: A handful of members to institutions with hundreds of thousands of members and assets worth billions of US dollars. In 2018, the number of members in credit unions worldwide was 375 million, with over 100 million members having been added since 2016. Leading up to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 , in 2006, 23.6% of mortgages from commercial banks were subprime , compared to only 3.6% of those from credit unions, and banks were two and

469-648: A number of inequities, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was founded in 1967. It had five primary demands, and added the demand that each citizen in Northern Ireland be afforded the same number of votes for local government elections (as stated above, this was not yet the case anywhere in the United Kingdom). The slogan "one man, one vote" became a rallying cry for this campaign. The Parliament of Northern Ireland voted to update

536-423: A result, however, it laid off 109 members of its staff. On 17 August 2016, Meridian announced its intention to establish a federally chartered online banking subsidiary. On 4 February 2019 the name announced for the new entity was Motusbank , stylized as motusbank . Motusbank launched across Canada on 2 April 2019. As of June 2019, Motusbank had approximately CAD$ 54 million in capital. Meridian Credit Union

603-506: A resulting change in the number of seats to which that state was entitled in the House of Representatives. In many states, both North and South, this inaction resulted in a skewing of influence for voters in some districts over those in others, generally with a bias toward rural districts. For example, if the 2nd congressional district eventually had a population of 1.5 million, but the 3rd had only 500,000, then, in effect – since each district elected

670-587: A seat per vote basis in various electoral systems can be measured with the Loosemore–Hanby index , the Gallagher index , and other measures of disproportionality. The phrase surged in English-language usage around 1880, thanks in part to British trade unionist George Howell , who used the phrase "one man, one vote" in political pamphlets. During the mid-to-late 20th-century period of decolonisation and

737-531: A series of cases by the Warren Court in the 1960s during the height of related civil rights activities. By the second half of the 20th century, many states had neglected to redistrict for decades, because their legislatures were dominated by rural interests. But during the 20th century, population had increased in urban, industrialized areas. In addition to applying the Equal Protection Clause of

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804-515: A small profit (i.e., in non-profit accounting terms, a "surplus") to remain in existence. According to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), a credit union's revenues (from loans and investments) must exceed its operating expenses and dividends (interest paid on deposits) in order to maintain capital and solvency. In the United States, credit unions incorporated and operating under

871-609: A state credit union law are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(14)(A) . Federal credit unions organized and operated in accordance with the Federal Credit Union Act are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(1) . According to the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), at the end of 2018 there were 85,400 credit unions in 118 countries. Collectively they served 274.2 million members and oversaw US$ 2.19 trillion in assets. WOCCU does not include data from cooperative banks , so, for example, some countries generally seen as

938-552: A unique parish-based model for Quebec: the caisse populaire . In the United States, St. Mary's Bank Credit Union of Manchester, New Hampshire , was the first credit union. Assisted by a personal visit from Desjardins, St. Mary's was founded by French-speaking immigrants to Manchester from Quebec on 24 November 1908. Several Little Canadas throughout New England formed similar credit unions, often out of necessity, as Anglo-American banks frequently rejected Franco-American loans. America's Credit Union Museum now occupies

1005-455: A wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Credit Union. On 21 February 2017, Meridian announced and introduced a new line of Visa credit cards, moving away from MasterCard . On 19 November 2019, Meridian won "Best Credit Union" at the 5th Annual Canadian FinTech & AI Awards. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario , Meridian closed branches and reduced hours to comply with lockdown orders. As

1072-469: Is both a trade association for credit unions worldwide and a development agency . The WOCCU's mission is to "assist its members and potential members to organize, expand, improve and integrate credit unions and related institutions as effective instruments for the economic and social development of all people". EverythingCU.com is an online community of credit union professionals. In the United States, federal credit unions are chartered and overseen by

1139-407: Is forced to declare insolvency, its assets are distributed to creditors (including depositors) in order of seniority according to bankruptcy law. If the total deposits exceed the assets remaining after more senior creditors are paid, all depositors will lose some or all of their initial deposits. However, many jurisdictions have deposit insurance that promises to reimburse members for funds lost up to

1206-546: Is generally a for-profit subsidiary of one or more credit unions formed for this purpose. For example, CO-OP Financial Services , the largest credit-union-owned interbank network in the United States, provides an ATM network and shared branching services to credit unions. Other examples of cooperatives among credit unions include credit counselling services as well as insurance and investment services. State credit union leagues can partner with outside organizations to promote initiatives for credit unions or customers. For example,

1273-569: Is provided by not-for-profit or for-profit institutions, places the control over financial resources and their allocation in the hands of a small number of microfinance providers that benefit from the highly profitable sector. In the credit union context, " not-for-profit " must be distinguished from a charity. Credit unions are "not-for-profit" because their purpose is to serve their members rather than to maximize profits, so unlike charities, credit unions do not rely on donations and are financial institutions that must make what is, in economic terms,

1340-619: The Civil Rights Movement to restore the ability of African Americans in the South to register and vote highlighted other voting inequities across the country. In 1964–1965, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed, in part to enforce the constitutional voting rights of African Americans . Numerous court challenges were raised, including in Alabama, to correct

1407-843: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts . After being promoted by the Catholic Church in the 1940s to assist the poor in Latin America , credit unions expanded rapidly during the 1950s and 1960s, especially in Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Peru. The Regional Confederation of Latin American Credit Unions (COLAC) was formed and with funding by the Inter-American Development Bank credit unions in

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1474-510: The Desjardins Group , formerly Province of Ontario Savings Office ) and Meridian's membership voted in favour of a merger effective 1 June 2011. By 2012, most of the former Desjardins branches in Ontario had been renamed to Meridian branches. In April 2016 Meridian completed its acquisition from Scotiabank of Roynat Lease Finance, a supplier of commercial equipment leasing. Roynat Lease Finance will operate as Meridian OneCap Credit Corp.,

1541-681: The House of Lords ), and also reduced and finally eliminated plural voting for Westminster elections. Plural voting for local-government elections outside the City of London was not abolished until the Representation of the People Act 1969 . When Northern Ireland was established in 1921, it adopted the same political system then in place for the Westminster Parliament and British local government. But

1608-743: The Kingdom of Saxony into what are generally recognized as the first credit unions in the world. He went on to develop a highly successful urban credit union system. In 1864, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the first rural credit union in Heddesdorf (now part of Neuwied ) in Germany. By the time of Raiffeisen's death in 1888, credit unions had spread to Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, Austria, and other nations. The first credit union in North America,

1675-589: The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which also provides deposit insurance similar to the manner in which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides deposit insurance to banks. State-chartered credit unions are overseen by the state's financial regulatory agency and may, but are not required to, obtain deposit insurance. Because of problems with bank failures in the past, no state provides deposit insurance and as such there are two primary sources for depository insurance –

1742-570: The Northern Territory . Historically, all states (other than Tasmania) have had some form of malapportionment , but electoral reform in recent decades has resulted in electoral legislation and policy frameworks based on the "one vote, one value" principle. However, in the Western Australian and Queensland Legislative Assemblies, seats covering areas greater than 100,000 square kilometres (38,600 sq mi) may have fewer electors than

1809-578: The Parliament of Northern Ireland did not follow Westminster in changes to the franchise from 1945 . As a result, into the 1960s, plural voting was still allowed not only for local government (as it was for local government in Great Britain), but also for the Parliament of Northern Ireland. This meant that in local council elections (as in Great Britain), ratepayers and their spouses, whether renting or owning

1876-696: The UNI Financial Cooperation caisse in New Brunswick, are incorporated under federal charters and are members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation . One man one vote " One man, one vote " or " one vote, one value " is a slogan used to advocate for the principle of equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of democracy and political equality , especially with regard to electoral reforms like universal suffrage , direct elections , and proportional representation . The violation of equal representation on

1943-502: The United States (101 million), India (20 million), Canada (10 million), Brazil (6.0 million), South Korea (5.7 million), Philippines (5.4 million), Kenya and Mexico (5.1 million each), Ecuador (4.8 million), Australia (4.5 million), Thailand (4.1 million), Colombia (3.6 million), and Ireland (3.3 million). The countries with the highest percentage of credit union members in

2010-648: The United States House of Representatives among the states, based on their population. Reapportionment has generally been conducted without incident with the exception of the reapportionment that should have followed the 1920 census , which was effectively skipped pending resolution by the Reapportionment Act of 1929 . State legislatures , however, initially established election of congressional representatives from districts that were often based on traditional counties or parishes that had preceded founding of

2077-588: The Caisse Populaire de Lévis in Quebec , Canada, began operations on 23 January 1901 with a 10-cent deposit. Founder Alphonse Desjardins , a reporter in the Canadian parliament, was moved to take up his mission in 1897 when he learned of a Montrealer who had been ordered by the court to pay nearly Can$ 5,000 in interest on a loan of $ 150 from a moneylender. Drawing extensively on European precedents, Desjardins developed

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2144-551: The Indiana Credit Union League sponsors an initiative called "Ignite", which is used to encourage innovation in the credit union industry, with the Filene Research Institute. The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is a national trade association for both state- and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States. The National Credit Union Foundation is the primary charitable arm of

2211-528: The NCUA and American Share Insurance (ASI), a private insurer based in Ohio. In Canada, the majority of credit unions and caisses populaires are provincially incorporated and deposit insurance is provided by a provincial Crown corporation . For example, in Ontario up to CA$ 250,000 of eligible deposits in credit unions are insured by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario . Federal credit unions, such as

2278-581: The Senate with two representatives, without regard to population. The Founding Fathers considered this principle of such importance that they included a clause in the Constitution to prohibit any state from being deprived of equal representation in the Senate without its permission; see Article V of the United States Constitution . For this reason, "one person, one vote" has never been implemented in

2345-601: The U.S. Senate, in terms of representation by states. When states established their legislatures, they often adopted a bicameral model based on colonial governments or the federal government. Many copied the Senate principle, establishing an upper house based on geography - for instance, a state senate with one representative drawn from each county. By the 20th century, this often resulted in state senators having widely varying amounts of political power, with ones from rural areas having votes equal in power to those of senators representing much greater urban populations. Activism in

2412-472: The US Senate. Because of changes following industrialization and urbanization, most population growth had been in cities, and the bicameral state legislatures gave undue political power to rural counties. In the 1964 Wesberry v. Sanders decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that equality of voting—one person, one vote—means that "the weight and worth of the citizens' votes as nearly as is practicable must be

2479-725: The United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren overturned the previous decision in Colegrove holding that malapportionment claims under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment were not exempt from judicial review under Article IV, Section 4 , as the equal protection issue in this case was separate from any political questions. The "one person, one vote" doctrine, which requires electoral districts to be apportioned according to population, thus making each district roughly equal in population,

2546-412: The United States' credit union movement and an affiliate of CUNA. The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) is a national trade association for all state and federally-chartered credit unions. Based outside of Washington, D.C., NAFCU's mission is to provide all credit unions with federal advocacy, compliance assistance, and education. The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU)

2613-519: The association: "We would very much like such excellent constitutions to be established throughout our region. They would help to rescue people from evil and misery. A beautiful, great idea, a beautiful excellent constitution!" Modern credit union history dates from 1852, when Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch consolidated the learning from two pilot projects, one in Eilenburg and the other in Delitzsch in

2680-542: The business vote continued for elections to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland until 1969. They were abolished in 1948 for elections to the UK House of Commons (including Westminster seats in Northern Ireland). Historians and political scholars have debated the extent to which the franchise for local government contributed to unionist electoral success in controlling councils in nationalist -majority areas. Based on

2747-425: The constituencies varied widely, with different qualifications over time, such as owning property of a certain value, holding an apprenticeship, qualifying for paying the local-government rates, or holding a degree from the university in question. Those who qualified for the vote in more than one constituency were entitled to vote in each constituency, while many adults did not qualify for the vote at all. Plural voting

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2814-547: The constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion (5–4) led by Chief Justice Earl Warren in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) ruled that state legislatures, unlike the U.S. Congress , needed to have representation in both houses that was based on districts containing roughly equal populations, with redistricting as needed after the decennial censuses. Some states had established an upper house based on an equal number of representatives to be elected from each county, modelled after

2881-441: The context of financial inclusion , credit unions claim to provide a broader range of loan and savings products at a much cheaper cost to their members than do most microfinance institutions. Credit unions differ from modern microfinance. Particularly, members' control over financial resources is the distinguishing feature between the cooperative model and modern microfinance. The current dominant model of microfinance, whether it

2948-553: The decades in which state legislative districts had not been redefined or reapportioned, resulting in lack of representation for many residents. In Colegrove v. Green , 328 U.S. 549 (1946) the United States Supreme Court held in a 4–3 plurality decision that Article I, Section 4 left to the legislature of each state the authority to establish the time, place, and manner of holding elections for representatives. However, in Baker v. Carr , 369 U.S. 186 (1962)

3015-512: The economically active population were Barbados (82%), Ireland (75%), Grenada (72%), Trinidad & Tobago (68%), Belize and St. Lucia (67% each), St. Kitts & Nevis (58%), Jamaica (53% each), Antigua and Barbuda (49%), the United States (48%), Ecuador (47%), and Canada (43%). Several African and Latin American countries also had high credit union membership rates, as did Australia and South Korea. The average percentage for all countries considered in

3082-477: The general tolerance would otherwise allow. The following chart documents the years that the upper and lower houses of each Australian state parliament replaced malapportionment with the 'one vote, one value' principle. The Whitlam Labor government proposed to amend the Constitution in a referendum in 1974 to require the use of population to determine the size of electorates rather than alternative methods of distributing seats, such as geographical size. The bill

3149-420: The local population. In 1987, the regional financial crisis caused a run on credit unions. Significant withdrawals and high default rates caused liquidity problems for many credit unions in the region. Credit unions and banks in most jurisdictions are legally required to maintain a reserve requirement of assets to liabilities. If a credit union or traditional bank is unable to maintain positive cash flow and/or

3216-626: The location of the home from which St. Mary's Bank Credit Union first operated. In November 1910 the Woman's Educational and Industrial Union set up the Industrial Credit Union, modeled on the Desjardins credit unions it was the first non-faith-based community credit union serving all people in the greater Boston area. The oldest statewide credit union in the United States was established in 1913. The St. Mary's Bank Credit Union serves any resident of

3283-424: The new government. The question then arose as to whether the legislatures were required to ensure that House districts were roughly equal in population and to draw new districts to accommodate demographic changes. Some U.S. states redrew their House districts every ten years to reflect changes in population patterns; many did not. Some never redrew them, except when it was mandated by reapportionment of Congress and

3350-405: The pioneers of credit unionism, such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy, are not always included in their data. The European Association of Co-operative Banks reported 38 million members in those four countries at the end of 2010. The countries with the most credit union activity are highly diverse. According to WOCCU, the countries with the greatest number of credit union members were

3417-418: The population of the state. Currently, for the House of Representatives, the number of enrolled voters in each division in a state or territory can vary by up to 10% from the average quota for the state or territory, and the number of voters can vary by up to 3.5% from the average projected enrolment three-and-a-half years into the future. The allowable quota variation of the number of electors in each division

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3484-512: The property, could vote, and company directors had an extra vote by virtue of their company's status. However, unlike the situation in Great Britain, non-ratepayers did not have a vote in local government elections. The franchise for elections to the Parliament of Northern Ireland had been extended in 1928 to all adult citizens who were not disqualified, at the same time as the franchise for elections to Westminster. But, university representation and

3551-557: The regions grew rapidly throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s. By 1988 COLAC credit unions represented four million members across 17 countries with a loan portfolio of circa US$ 0.5 billion. However, from the late 1970s onwards many Latin American credit unions struggled with inflation, stagnating membership, and serious loan recovery problems. In the 1980s donor agencies such as USAID attempted to rehabilitate Latin American credit unions by providing technical assistance and focusing credit unions' efforts on mobilising deposits from

3618-656: The report was 8.2%. Credit unions were launched in Poland in 1992; as of 2012 there were 2,000 credit union branches there with 2.2 million members. From 1996 to 2016, credit unions in Costa Rica almost tripled their share of the financial market (they grew from 3.7% of the market share to 9.9%), and grew faster than private-sector banks or state-owned banks in Costa Rica, after financial reforms in that country. "Spolok Gazdovský" ( The Association of Administrators or The Association of Farmers ) founded in 1845 by Samuel Jurkovič,

3685-522: The same number of enrolled voters (not residents or population), within a specified percentage of variance. The electoral laws of the federal House of Representatives , and of the state and territory parliaments, follow the principle, with a few exceptions. The principle does not apply to the Senate because, under the Australian constitution , each state is entitled to the same number of senators, irrespective of

3752-464: The same number of representatives – a voter in the 3rd district had three times the voting power of a 2nd-district voter. Alabama's state legislature resisted redistricting from 1910 to 1972 (when forced by federal court order). As a result, rural residents retained a wildly disproportionate amount of power in a time when other areas of the state became urbanized and industrialized, attracting greater populations. Such urban areas were under-represented in

3819-467: The same". They ruled that states must draw federal congressional districts containing roughly equal represented populations. This phrase was traditionally used in the context of demands for suffrage reform. Historically the emphasis within the House of Commons was on representing areas : counties, boroughs and, later on, universities . The entitlement to vote for the Members of Parliament representing

3886-458: The state legislature and underserved; their residents had difficulty getting needed funding for infrastructure and services. Such areas paid far more in taxes to the state than they received in benefits in relation to the population. The Constitution incorporates the result of the Great Compromise , which established representation for the U.S. Senate. Each state was equally represented in

3953-458: The struggles for national sovereignty, this phrase became widely used in developing countries where majority populations sought to gain political power in proportion to their numbers. The slogan was notably used by the anti-apartheid movement during the 1980s, which sought to end white minority rule in South Africa . In the United States, the "one person, one vote" principle was invoked in

4020-525: The voting rules for elections to the Northern Ireland House of Commons, which were implemented for the 1969 Northern Ireland general election , and for local government elections, which was done by the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1969 , passed on 25 November 1969. The United States Constitution requires a decennial census for the purpose of assuring fair apportionment of seats in

4087-465: Was also present in local government, whereby the owners of business property qualified for votes in the relevant wards . Reformers argued that Members of Parliament and other elected officials should represent citizens equally, and that each voter should be entitled to exercise the vote once in an election. Successive Reform Acts by 1950 had both extended the franchise eventually to almost all adult citizens (barring convicts , lunatics and members of

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4154-619: Was further affirmed by the Warren Court in the landmark cases that followed Baker , including Gray v. Sanders , 372 U.S. 368 (1963), which concerned the county unit system in Georgia; Reynolds v. Sims , 377 U.S. 533 (1964) which concerned state legislature districts; Wesberry v. Sanders , 376 U.S. 1 (1964), which concerned U.S. congressional districts; and Avery v. Midland County , 390 U.S. 474 (1968) which concerned local government districts. The Warren Court's decision

4221-737: Was listed as one of Canada's top 100 employers by Maclean's magazine in 2009 and 2010. Through its "Commitment to Communities" program Meridian Credit Union contributes money to local causes and encourages employees to volunteer in their community. The company also donates to national organizations such as the Alzheimer Society of Ontario . Facilities which Meridian owns naming rights to include Meridian Hall ( Toronto ), Meridian Place ( Barrie ) and Meridian Centre ( St. Catharines ). Credit union Worldwide, credit union systems vary significantly in their total assets and average institution asset size, ranging from volunteer operations with

4288-606: Was not passed by the Senate and instead the referendum was put to voters using the deadlock provision in Section 128 . The referendum was not carried, obtaining a majority in just one State and achieving 47.20% support, an overall minority of 407,398 votes. In 1988, the Hawke Labor government submitted a referendum proposal to enshrine the principle in the Australian Constitution . The referendum question came about due to

4355-561: Was reduced from 20% to 10% by the Commonwealth Electoral Act (No. 2) 1973 , passed at the joint sitting of Parliament in 1974. The change was instigated by the Whitlam Labor government . However, for various reasons, such as the constitutional requirement that Tasmania must have at least five lower house members, larger seats like Cowper (New South Wales) comprise almost double the electors of smaller seats like Solomon in

4422-546: Was the first cooperative in Europe (Credit union). The cooperative provided a cheap loan from funds generated by regular savings for members of the cooperative. Members of cooperative had to commit to a moral life and had to plant two trees in a public place every year. Despite the short duration of its existence, until 1851, it thus formed the basis of the cooperative movement in Slovakia. Slovak national thinker Ľudovít Štúr said about

4489-495: Was upheld in Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris , 489 U.S. 688 (1989). Evenwel v. Abbott , 578 U.S. 2016, said states may use total population in drawing districts. In Australia , one vote, one value is a democratic principle, applied in electoral laws governing redistributions of electoral divisions of the House of Representatives . The principle calls for all electoral divisions to have

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