By Nancy Miller Chenier
was at the east door of
Ste Anne Hall (Helene Beauchamp)
The Caisse Populaire Ste-Anne d’Ottawa may not have been the first francophone credit union in our city but it was the longest lasting. On March 31, 1912, members of the Ste-Anne parish met to establish this significant Lowertown financial institution. Over the years, Ste-Anne merged with other Caisses. In 1984 after amalgamating ing with several other Caisses, it took the name Ste- Anne Laurier, and then in 2003 combined with Notre-Dame d’Ottawa to become the Caisse populaire Rideau d’Ottawa (now renamed Desjardins Ontario Credit Union at 147 Rideau Street).
At 550 Old St Patrick Street, the modern building designed in 1953 by Jean Serge LeFort has lost some of the distinctive gold grill treatment of its arched façade, but has retained its external night-deposit box with the French text as well as its internal walk-in bank vault. Now occupied by the John Howard Society, it still serves as a reminder of the building’s significant history of serving Lowertown’s francophones.
Alphonse Desjardins, the co-founder with his wife, Dorimène Roy, of the caisse model of Canadian credit co-operatives, collaborated with Ste-Anne parishioners to establish this important saving and lending organization. From 1892 to 1917, Desjardins worked as a reporter for the House of Commons, ensuring that the parliamentary debates were recorded in the official Hansard. Here he heard about the unethical practices of private money lenders who exploited borrowers unable to access bank services by charging excessive interest rates on small loans. He found the case of a man who had to pay $5000 interest on a $150 loan particularly disturbing. Many working-class francophones could not provide the collateral and financial guarantees demanded by established banks.
Wilfrid Labelle, a Ste-Anne parishioner, heard Desjardins speak about the effectiveness of co-operative credit societies and was motivated by the emphasis on the caisse populaire as a parish-oriented entity, as a body that would develop a more prosperous milieu for families. Labelle was an excellent candidate to promote the idea to the church hierarchy and to the parishioners. He lived at 416 Clarence Street with his wife Exilda and five children. He had steady employment with the federal government working for the Department of Secretary of State. He was a faithful parishioner with demonstrated leadership in several church organizations.
And for more than three decades, Wilfrid Labelle managed this successful Caisse and built its assets to benefit members. The goals were simple: to encourage individuals to save and to provide fair interest rates on loans. Before the Caisse occupied the modern building at 550 Old St Patrick, it was located in the Ste-Anne parish hall where by 1912, its entrance was clearly marked. In the early days, the monthly bulletin of the Ste-Anne parish would list the opening hours. And each year the balance sheets of the Caisse would be made publicly available.
When Labelle died in 1956, his obituary in Le Droit noted that Ottawa had lost one of its most esteemed citizens. He had helped build a financial co-operative with roots so deep that it continues to flourish.