Last week’s 2010 federal budget announced that the government would pursue legislation to allow credit unions to incorporate federally and operate nationally.

Creating a Federal Framework for Credit Unions

Canada is home to a strong and vibrant credit union industry that provides financial services to millions of Canadian consumers and small businesses. To promote the continued growth and competitiveness of the sector and enhance financial stability, the Government will introduce a legislative framework to enable credit unions to incorporate and continue their operations as federal entities. Allowing credit unions to grow and be competitive on a national scale will broaden choices for consumers by helping credit unions to attract new members and improve services to existing members across provincial borders.
— Busdget 2010: Chapter 3.3: Building on a Strong Economic Foundation

This could be a big deal. Currently banks are governed by the federal Bank Act and credit unions are regulated provincially under provincial acts.

In the past credit unions that wanted to serve members in more than one province would have had to either incorporate in both provinces, which I don’t know any examples because it was probably reulatorily prohibitive, or buy or start a bank.

VanCity used to operate the online Citizens Bank, which was sold to TD. Alterna Savings & Credit Union Ltd. in Ottawa owns CS Alterna Bank as a subsidiary to serve cutsomers across the country.

It will also help the Creative Arts Credit Union which I visited last fall. Their bond of association spanning the creative performing arts and being affiliated with a national organization makes the credit union well-suited to federal incorproation.

In fact, the executive director of ACTRA and former credit union central VP Brian Topp wrote about the issue on his blog at TGAM.

I’m betting that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty spends less time keeping his eye on Twitter than his colleague in the Heritage Department. But he too made at least one helpful commitment during recalibration week. The government committed to modernize banking legislation to permit Canada’s credit unions to operate nationally, across provincial boundaries.

Credit unions are the leading and best financial institutions in much of the country, Ontarian readers might be surprised to learn. The Desjardins credit union system is the market leader in Quebec (like most students in that province’s French-language Catholic school system of the time, I well remember being issued my little gold Desjardins bank book the first week of First Grade – another tiny step towards successfully rolling back the dominance of commercial chartered banks over Quebec’s families and its economy). Credit unions are similarly ubiquitous in British Columbia and Saskatchewan; are highly competitive in Alberta and Manitoba; and are growing nicely in Atlantic Canada.
— Two cheers for the government (no, really) Brian Topp 7 Mar 2010

We’ll have to see what legislation comes out of this and whether it passes, but it very well could improve financial services for Canadian consumers.

I’d like to have a vision of what things the organization would do before we start creating it, so there is something to reconcile decisions with and stay true to our vision and mission.

For the mission, since I first started thinking of the project I have thought of three main purposes for the project’s mission. Sometimes I word them differently but they have always been like these:

• Offer financial services that better meet students’ needs;
• Provide amazing work experience for student staff;
• Increase financial literacy and money management skills among students.

I started recently thinking of what the vision could be. What we foresee wanting to achieve as an overarching goal.

Several weeks ago I thought of this:

• “Waterloo students to graduate with more money and less debt”

I am not yet sure of it. I thought of it because it roughly covers the intended outcome of our purposes. Also, when I think about how much effort goes into fighting tuition increases, when we have so little influence over the process.

Our finances as students is something that we can each exert great power over by creating and using better financial services and by developing skills that help us be better with our money.

If our project is successful, I want Waterloo students to be richer and create and capture more value in their careers. I want them to donate some of their money back to the university and the project to support our educational mission.

I expect costs of being a university student to keep on rising and money will have an even greater role in our lives and our decisions.

More specific and practical. We need to have an idea of what things we will do to fulfill our purposes and realize our vision, our functions. What will we do?

At Georgetown they have these departments:

• Board of Directors
• Collections
• Credit
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Marketing
• Member Service
• Operations

I started making a list of my own, not of departments, but of functions that would fit into departments.

Those are some of the things I have been thinking about with respect to the project, but we have more urgent work too. It is important to take care of both.

Different than usual, our regular goalkeeper wasn’t there and we had more than a couple subs. Ben stepped up to tend goal and we committed to run hard because of our deeper bench. Normally we have to be focused on the whole game as our opponents often have full lines to change.

We started the game controlling the ball well and moving with quick passes. On their possession they had good skills too, but couldn’t handle the pressure of close marking well.

Liu scored early to put us up 1-0. Shortly after they kicked a long ball in that could have even been meant as a pass. It sailed over the box and hit the crossbar and in. It was well-placed and lucky for a tie game.

We scored again and ended the half up 2-1. At the half there was a lot of discussion about positions and substitutions. Clearly we are unused to having so many extras.

Into the second half the disorganization and discussion moved into messier plays as they pressed on us to make an equalizer. We repelled them well and got good chances, but no conversions.

They tried long balls and long passes, trying to outflank us on plays, but we turned them back and reattacked.

Another shot from far out, when one of them had some space, snuck off the crossbar again to find the net and it was again tied.

In the final few minutes, Ben blocked a close quick shot. Then in the last minute Carlos hit the net and we held it for the last seconds.

After the match we headed out to Moose Winooski’s.

We have our last season match next week and then play-offs begin. We are likely to face the same team as last night in our post-season opener.

• Finally our first win in indoor soccer 13 Dec 2009

Some friends were considering a place to rent and showed me the lease. It had a few things that were against the law.

The property management company was asking for a deposit of two month’s rent plus a security deposit.

a) $_____ as deposit to be applied as prepaid rent towards the last and first months’ rent of the term of this Lease. Due at signing of this Lease.
[...]
b) $200.00 EACH as a refundable deposit for all keys/furniture/appliances/security deposit. Due at the signing of this lease and made out to [...] (post-dated to the start date of your lease).

It is against the Residential Tenancies Act 105.(1) to charge a deposit of more than the cost of one month’s rent. Nor can landlord require post-dated cheques (108.(a))

The lease also required 255 days notice for termination at the end of the lease.

The tenant may, up until DECEMBER 15, 2010, give written notice to terminate the tenancy as of _AUGUST _ 27th, 2011.

This is also against the act. Notice of termination can only be given under the provisions given in the law (Termination only in accordance with Act 37. (1)). And tenants can, most commonly, terminate a lease at the end of the term of the lease with 60 days notice given on the last day of the month (a href=”http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_06r17_e.htm#BK50″>Period of notice, monthly tenancy 44 (2).).

They also have a clause with false information about the local smoking bylaw.

*Please note that [...] houses are non-smoking buildings and smoking inside, on a balcony or within 10 feet of the building is against city of Waterloo by-law and it will result in a $200 charge. Initial: _____

In Waterloo smoking restrictions are in a bylaw of the regional municipality, not the city. Furthermore, that bylaw only applies to public places.

The Region of Waterloo Smoking By-Law (No. 96-055)
The Region of Waterloo Smoking By-Law came into effect on November 1, 1996 to regulate smoking in public places in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Full implementation of further amendments to the by-law came into effect on January 1, 2000. The Region of Waterloo by-law was the first in Ontario to prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars.
— Smoking Legislation | Region of Waterloo

These are the major problems I saw in my friends’ lease. It’s important for students to know what their rights are. It is even possible to apply to remedies after signing a lease too. Part of the problem is that landlords can make life difficult for tenants and busy students might be reluctant to spend time and trouble on protecting their rights as tenants. While it is good to keep good relations, landlords should never get away with breaking the law.

Imprint president e-mailed Jesse back and then later e-mailed the Imprint mailing list to say that the board had rejected the changes.

A few days ago, you have received the agenda for Imprint’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), which will be held tomorrow, Monday, February 22, 2010.

The agenda included all proposed policy changes made by volunteers and other Imprint membership. However, all proposed changes have to be approved by the Board of Directors before they can be brought before the membership to vote on at the AGM.

Since those changes had been posted exactly 10 days before the AGM, Imprint’s Board of Directors did not get the chance to vote on them until today, Sunday, February 21.

We have discussed and voted on the proposed changes, and have rejected proposed changes to Policy 14 - Honouraria. All other proposed changes have been approved, and all Imprint membership attending our AGM tomorrow
will get a chance to discuss and vote on them.

I apologize for the late notice on the update, but our hands had been tied with regards to approval or rejection until today.

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow at the AGM, starting at 3:00 p.m.
– e-mail from Sherif Soliman

Though they made the correct decision in the end, the circumstances are still questionable.

I can understand the board wanting to let policy changes be considered, but how could the proposal be put on the agenda for a meeting of members if it hadn’t even been approved by the board. The proposed policy changes were e-mailed out late in the evening of 12 February, which is nine days before yesterday, not the 10 that Soliman suggests.

Imprint editor Mike Davenport even acknowledges it in his e-mail:

Our annual general meeting will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, February 22 in the SLC multipurpose room. One of the functions of the AGM is to give the opportunity for all staff members to vote on Imprint policy.

In the interest of transparency, all proposed policy changes must be posted at least ten days in advance. Well, it’s ten days in advance, and here are some proposed policy changes. Please become familiar with them — there are some big changes in here which will alter how the office is run.
[...]
Policy 14 (authored by Brent Golem)
This policy governs honoraria. Brent has pretty much re-written the entire policy here, everyone should read it.
[...]
– E-mail from Imprint editor-in-chief Mike Davenport Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:57:35 -0500

Though Davenport is correct about the requirement for 10 days notice for the board to approve policies, he is wrong about who should vote on them. It is not the staff who get to vote on them but the members.

4.15 Policies and Procedures
[...]
The Policies & Procedures may be amended from time to time by the Board. Any change not ratified by the members at a general meeting, however, shall cease to be in effect.
– Imprint Bylaw No. 6

Also under the bylaw, members must be given 14 days notice of the business to be considered at an annual general meeting.

So, while the board made the right decision with respect to this policy change, the circumstances are questionable.

Student organizations whose fee revenue is collected by the University of Waterloo should be required to include in their bylaws for proper notice to members of changes like this.

• Imprint proposes paying section editors $2,000 per term 22 Feb 2010

The official student newspaper at Waterloo, Imprint, is holding its annual general meeting Monday and is proposing a policy of paying editorial staff large sums of money for “volunteering.”

The honoraria would range from $2,500 per term for the assistant editor and $2,000 for section editors to 500 for positions like photo editor, $250 for their assistants. The policy proposal also suggests $20 per >300 word contributions by senior staff and $10 for junior staff contributions.

I estimate the total cost per year would be about $56,000. I can’t be certain because at least one position isn’t listed and may have been left out in error.

Changing the policy is a worthwhile; the current version of the policy set no levels and left it up to the board of directors of Imprint Publications, Waterloo. Under that version, the board could have set honoraria at high levels with no restriction from the policy. The amounts proposed, however, are far too high.

This proposal should not be ratified because it could undermine the Imprint volunteer experience and the quality of the newspaper content. Its emphasis on external rewards can diminish intrinsic motivation and threaten the organization’s dual mission of publication and learning.

Readers and members of Imprint — Waterloo students — should want a publication that meets a high standard of quality. Offering large sums of money can overshadow the purpose of creating good content lead staff to do just enough to get the money.

Staff themselves should want to learn and gain from their experience. They should want to gain knowledge and skills that will help them make the newspaper better and help achieve their professional ambitions. Payments that come close to a wage can distract from their development.

Studies in social psychology and economics have found that paying volunteers can actually reduce the amount and quality of work they do.

There is a fairly standard pattern regarding the volunteers reaction e.g. to more labor market work hours. But we obtain the puzzling result that, when rewarded, volunteers work less. These findings are in line with a large literature in social psychology emphasizing that external rewards can undermine the intrinsic motivation for an activity.
— Does Pay Motivate Volunteers? Institute for Empirical Research in Economics

The proposed changes are also poorly written and don’t offer meaningful justification or explanation for the changes.

The writer refers to staff being paid “what they are worth,” lest value of work be “undermined,” creating a “competitive environment” for positions, and to “deter burnout.” Makes it sound like the proposer is bitter and has a bone to pick rather than wanting to improve current practice.

Volunteer work by its nature is worth more than what is paid for it — usually nothing. People choose activities despite lack of monetary reward because they are worthwhile — they improve themselves or their community. Sometimes volunteers work harder merely for the thanks or feeling appreciated. The reward of working on Imprint is producing a good newspaper and getting good at reporting, design, or perhaps even writing policy. This attempt addresses none of those things.

This proposal may also be attractive to Imprint staff because they are likely to benefit from the change compared to the non-staff student majority who may be more concerned about the costs they pay with their Imprint fees or proper operation of the organization.

Those student members may not have been properly informed of this proposed change. Imprint’s own bylaws require notice of business at a general meeting to be published in the newspaper at least 14 days prior to the meeting.

7.14 Notice of Meetings
Notice of the time, place and date of meetings of members and the general nature of the business ot be transacted shall be given at least fourteen (14) days before the ate of the general meeting to the members of the meeting by publication in the student newspaper published by the Corporation and circulated on the University of Waterloo campus and such notice shall be posted in the Corporation Head office. Notice of any meeting where special business will be transacted shall contain sufficient information to permit members to form a reasoned judgment on the decision to be taken.
— Imprint Bylaw No. 6

Which would mean notice would have had to be in the Friday 5 February issue and posted around campus by Monday 7 February.

I don’t think proper notice was given for these changes. While the bylaw does have a clause to weasel out of notice, using it usually means something is being done wrong.

14.02 Omissions and Errors
The accidental omissions to give notice of any meeting or any adjourned meeting of the Board or members of the non-receipt of any notice by any director or member or by the auditor of the Corporation or any error in any notice not affecting its substance does not invalidate any resolution passed or any proceedings taken at the meeting.
— Imprint Bylaw No. 6

This proposal to pay Imprint volunteers what amounts to a wage should not be ratified. It would hurt the quality of the newspaper and the volunteer experience. It is not justified and members have not received proper notice to make an informed decision.

• Paying volunteers is a bad idea 22 Feb 2010

We gathered to remember Jeffrey Stephen Aho on Monday.

Friends, brothers, classmates, teachers, and family gathered in the Festival Room on the Waterloo campus for an event that, if it were for merely social reasons, Jeff would have loved.

There were wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, vegetables and hors d’oeuvres, but people didn’t really eat or drink. I estimated about 180 people there.

We had only started planning things the day before and on that day Monday, many people came together to prepare for the memorial. One important thing we prepared for was the white rose ceremony when we let our fraternity brother pass to the chapter eternal.

We had white roses pinne don our lapels for it.

After people had gathered, Ryan Gariepy started things off introducing each speaker. Chris Neal talked about Jeff’s involvement in student politics and on campus. “He saved every student $5.50.” Chris captured Jeff’s hard work, determination, and persistence.

Professor Jan Huissoon spoke next. He walked up quickly when introduced. Professor Huissoon said Jeff was hard not to notice. He revealed that Jeff’s lego robot design team had scored a 0.999 out of a possible 1.0.

Then Rajan Shah and Levi came up. Rajan talked about meeting Jeff at a scholarship event before university and years later being in the same pledge class. Levi then started the white rose ceremony.

We gathered in a circle around the room and listened to the reading.

“All honour to his name” we said at the right time. Then one by one we walked up and placed our roses on the table with Jeff’s ashes, his picture, and seven candles.

Close friends of Jeff, Mike Purvis and Brandon DeHart spoke next. Mike told about how Jeff was interested in his life. Jeff urged him to blog more and post more pictures when on work term, the window into his life made him a bit happier Jeff explained. When Mike and Tara started going out in Seattle, Jeff e-mailed Mike that she was “a gem” after reading her blog for a few hours. Mike’s stories drew a good picture of a committed and caring friend and an energetic and curious mind.

Jeff’s twin brother Mark was the last to speak. He and Jeff had grown apart since high school, which he acknowledged, but he too had stories of Jeff. He delved more into the abstract though saying things like “. . . we ever stand on a precipice of change.”

Ryan Gariepy closed the speeches encouraging people to get some food and wine for a toast fifteen minutes later.

I went over to Brian, Jeff’s dad, and gave him a hug. He was very thankful for everything everyone had done. We had only started putting things together the day before.

The I hugged Jeff’s mom Linda. “I needed that,” she said.

“I told you it would be good,” I said.

She said, “It was wonderful.”

Later, Ryan toasted to Jeff and people stayed for a while longer, signed the guestbook.

I went to the library to catch up on my reading for a tutorial debate the next day, but met up with other sigs at Morty’s to spend time with friends.

Bye, Jeff.

• Jeffrey Stephen Aho has left us 7 Feb 2010

I remember all the phone calls I have ever received and learned that a friend or family member had died. When we were told our mother was gone, when my grandma passed, after my uncle had died on my birthday, or my best friend’s sister had died the next day on what would have been my mother’s birthday. Then there were others like when I found out that two close friends had been killed by the trauma of an avalanche.

I got another such phone call last Thursday — actually 0:21 on Friday. I had just gotten back from a late indoor soccer match and was eating some cheese and salamini. Then my mobile phone buzzed. I answered it and my whole perspective changed. Allan told me that Jeff was dead. I was shocked. I didn’t expect to hear that. I told him I would be by the house.

It seemed like the longest drive focused on the road and each light as my mind wandered and wondered how everyone was and what was happening. I got there and there were plenty of people at the Sigma Chi house somber and calling others to give them the news.

I sat down with Allan and Jenna. I wandered around the house seeing people in shock and in tears and sadness. People kept arriving. I saw Greg and gave him a hug. He just kept crying and I kept holding on to him for a while. It was difficult, but it was good that we were all there for each other.

I stayed at the house until about 3:30 when Levi went to go to bed. He had been the one to discover that Jeff was gone and we were all especially concerned for him.

On the way home I thought of the line from a song that says, “We get to carry each other.” It is blessing that we can support our loved ones.

I e-mailed work to tell them I needed time off to go to a gathering that evening. I ate a bunch of ice cream and I went to sleep.

Friday I got up late and went back to the house. I saw a few guys and we went to each sushi for lunch. I went to work, but left after a few hours to return to the house.

When I arrived I saw a person I had been friends with before, but who had betrayed my trust. I don’t think he was close at all with Jeff. It was very upsetting. I told him to stay away from me.

The house was packed. There were plenty of friends, fraternity brothers and sisters. People came from out of town and we hugged and talked. People brought food. It felt a little too social for my mind. I was hoping we would share more memories, but it was okay to have people be with others.

I had wanted to read the ‘poem’ from the song:

One love, One blood, One life
You got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters and my Brothers
One life, but we’re not the same
We get to carry each other
We get to carry each other

I told people about it though. Most thought it was good.

Eventually some people left and gradually the people who remained migrated up to Levi’s room. It was like a game of sardines as more people packed in sitting on the bed and floor after the his couch and chairs filled. We talked about Jeff and remembered fun times and jokes he had enjoyed.

I gave Levi a shirt with my face on it. It was kind of a non-sequitor but he had admired the one Allan was wearing the night before, so i thought it might help cheer him up. Levi said we should get some made with our other friends’ faces on them.

Again, I stayed until most people left and Levi went to bed. He had his engineering iron ring ceremony the next day. I told people we should let Levi get some rest and we cleared out at about 4:00.

Saturday was kind of slow to start but busy, I had to run errands and do some reading for history, which was hard to focus on. Levi called after his ceremony but before IRS. We talked about the plans and meeting with Jeff’s parents the next morning.

Melba and I had dinner late. I wanted to go to the house again, so we went after eating and cleaning up.

We hung out with a few of the guys for a while. It was good to be around people.

Sunday morning I got up and went over to Jeff’s house after picking up Levi. I met Jeff’s dad, and brother Mark. I had met his mom Linda before, but it took me a second to remember.

We talked about plans for the memorial. They wanted to have the local one the next day and to head back to Thunder Bay for one at home.

We discussed the obituary and details of the memorial service.

I tried calling contacts with the university to try to get a venue on campus. The call went up the chain and I heard back from the dean of engineering’s office.

Sue — whom I knew but hadn’t seen or heard from in more than five years — asked me a few questions, made sure that the parents were involved and that the service would be inclusive, to which i responded affirmatively. She said that Bud would make sure we had a place for the event and let us know.

I e-mailed those involved and told them to reply to Levi, Ryan G., and Mike P., as well as to me. Messages went out then to Lee, and Danny who confirmed the details and we got confirmation of the room in South Campus Hall and for wine (which was a detail we thought Jeff would have liked). Getting those arrangements was a relief and the university helped a ton.

Now, I have to do work and school and readings, but tomorrow evening will be a big help in moving forward from this sad loss of our friend Jeff Aho.

I tracked my spending and matched it against a budget in an Excel spreadsheet years ago, but stopped when my computer failed. Last month I returned to the practice using Google Docs. It worked out great.

I saved more than a thousand dollars and put money away for future capital purchases. It helped that I had three bi-weekly pay cheques in January, but I was paid less because of taking time off at Christmas and I had some irregular expenses that either won’t be there in future months or will be paid from my “capital” account.

I’m not just doing it for my own benefit, but I intend part of the mission of Waterloo Banking Project to be education in financial management, so this is good exploration of the possibilities.

Below is a cropped screenshot of my spreadsheet with obviously fake numbers (click on it to see the full version of my expense tracking and budgeting spreadsheet).

Basically, I estimate my income and regular expenses to set my budget then every time I pay for anything, I enter the data into the spreadsheet.

For each expense, I type in what part of the budget it is applies to and the equation shown adds it up.

I expect I am going to change the different budget accounts to include philanthropy (for charitable donations) and to change the scope of some of the other sections.

I know there are other tools out there for personal finances, but this one is working out okay for now.

Let me know what you think, or give me suggestions.

It is interesting to look back at the different programs, which in my experience include: Enterprise Co-op, UW Innovate Inc., Business Start-up Boot Camp, MBET, and VeloCity.

Interestingly VeloCity just announced a ‘bootcamp’ program.

The University of Waterloo is drawing on its widely acknowledged strengths in innovation to this summer launch a new type of collaborative training camp. Some of the most promising young entrepreneurs in Canada will come to learn how to help create the country’s future economy at the VeloCity Entrepreneur Bootcamp.
— Waterloo launches new bootcamp for young tech entrepreneurs UW News Release 26 Jan 2010

It reminded me of a post at UW Opinion by Garret.

Of the twelve start-ups, if they can be called that, that Jesse Rodgers has listed as part of the article I can’t help but feel slight dissatisfaction as the vast majority of these project aren’t what can traditionally be considered ‘innovative’, instead falling squarely into that listless mire known as ‘derivative’.
[...]
Much of the passion that’s traditionally associated with startups is missing from VeloCity. It has become another resume-padding line, without actually pushing people to innovate.
[...]
Since it’s not a monitored system, projects like “fitness application” get cranked out in place of original content.
— VeloCity without acceleration UW Opinion 9 Jan 2010

I thought he was too harsh and lacked some reason, so I responded.

Commenting on “VeloCity without acceleration” by Garret Kelly posted on 9 Jan 2010

It’s premature to make full judgement of the VeloCity projects based on descriptions of few words in the blog post. A decade ago the idea for the BlackBerry might have been described as “a mobile communication device,” which wouldn’t have given us enough information to judge its potential.

To truly judge VeloCity, we would need more knowledge of the program and time to see whether businesses come from it or its alumni.

There is value however in considering the stengths and shortcomings of any program, VeloCity included. Feedback can help them improve or show that efforts may be better directed elsewhere.

Setting up a system to produce innovative businesses is a tall order. For an initiative to be truly disruptive, it requires unusual circumstance to be realized. Given this challenge, there is a danger that VeloCity will be reduced to a program that offers students training in the mechanics of a startup, experience developing an idea and connects them with industry support, rather than being a reliable source for successful businesses.

VeloCity surely is only a piece of Waterloo’s entrepreneurial community and only one of what should be many efforts in fostering venture creation at our university

— RC-W
— More comments on VeloCity UW Opinion 10 Jan 2010

I do think many programs do get a lot of hype and many students are in it for resume padding. Not many have a good basis to judge and I do think some students are earnest innovators from whom we will see big things soon. We have seen it happen before.

• 8 Dec 2009

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