Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

of two major components: property (buildings, land, structures) and equipment (machinery andtools).The pattern of investment in property and equipment by NWT Aboriginal co-ops is similar toother Aboriginal co-ops (see Figures 4.12 and 6.6), except that Aboriginal co-ops in the NWTregistered a negative investment (i.e. disinvestment) in 1996 and 1997. This negative investmentmeans that co-ops are not even renewing the full amount of the depreciated value of their physicalcapital. For two out of four years, NWT Aboriginal co-ops did not renew fully their depreciatedcapital stocks.The trend of the NWT private investment is slightly downward for the period 1990 to 1997, withonly one large increase between 1993 and 1994. Nonetheless, we see no negative investment forthe NWT economy. Interestingly, total investment for the Canadian economy showed an upwardslope for the period 1991 to 1999 (see Figure 4.12).6.7 Assets and Members’ EquityEquity capital has been increasing continuously from 1993 to 1997. The main contributors of thisincrease are the share capital and the reserves. The value of members’ shares increased morethan 15% annually on average, while the co-ops’ reserves increased 5.1%. On the other hand,members loaned fewer dollars to their co-ops (-11.1% annually), and the amount of undistributedsurplus shrank an average of -7.1% annually. But members’ loans and the undistributed surplus(i.e. the declining components of equity) have no significant effect on the value of equity capital,since they constitute less than six percent of the value of equity. Share capital is once again themajor source of equity capital, contributing with almost 55% to the co-op’s equity (in 1997). Theincreasing value of share capital is the result of larger membership (see section 6.1).In 1997, assets totaled $105million, of which $43 millionwere considered current assets(i.e. cash and cashequivalents). From 1993 to1997, total assets grew 7.6%annually (on average), andtheir current counterpartsincreased 6.3%. On the otherhand, non-current assets (i.e.“portfolio” investments, and$120,000,000100,000,00080,000,00060,000,00040,000,00020,000,000078,609,03435,915,702Figure 6.7 Assets and Equity ofNWT Aboriginal Co-ops86,734,76743,641,60297,181,75447,895,620100,714,023105,274,75852,749,720 53,846,3941993 1994 1995 1996 1997Total AssetsYearsTotal Members' Equity111