IGNACE — The town's interim mayor and councillor say, despite their best efforts, the last remaining local bank is still set to close this month.
Ignace issued a statement on Wednesday that the closure of the Alterna credit union branch is still going to happen, which it called a "very disappointing and perplexing decision."
The town statement said interim mayor Kim Baigrie had a meeting with the company president and CEO last week, where she lobbied to keep the branch open.
Baigrie said the potential of Ignace being selected by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization has the host site of a deep geological repository was emphasized during the meeting, and the town also outlined a variety of incentives.
“We were willing and strongly encouraging Alterna’s President and CEO that Ignace is, and continues to be, a solid business location for the local branch of the
credit union. We stressed over many occasions to both local and regional representatives of Alterna that we were prepared to mitigate some of their challenges by investing in people and the branch itself. We continued to present these options to the President and CEO on Tuesday, but we were advised that their decision was already made and that they plan to proceed with the closure in Ignace in mid September," Baigrie said in a statement.
“We indicated to them that we are very disappointed and perplexed with their decision, which came about extremely quickly and without previous consultation with Township Council. Alterna has been less than forward with the Township on this matter, and we are disappointed that we couldn’t develop a stronger business case for them to remain opened in Ignace."
The town said Alterna has indicated that their decision to close the branch was based on difficulty attracting and retaining staff, along with low investment activity and interest from the community.
Baigrie said the town council and senior staff intend to consider next steps, including the possibility of trying to attract another financial institution to open a local branch.
The town is also urging Alterna to maintain ATM and specialized services for seniors.
