New director appointed at the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at USask

“I am delighted that Marc-André has joined the centre and is taking over as director. He brings a deep understanding of all types of co-operatives, particularly credit unions, as well as a keen mind for research questions that are academically interesting and that directly related to the problems that co-operatives face,” said the centre’s previous director, Murray Fulton. “His background in policy and government relations will be invaluable to the co-operative sector and to the JSGS.”

Pigeon joined the JSGS on Sept. 1, 2018, an assistant professor and a strategic research fellow with the centre.

“Under the guidance of my predecessors—Murray Fulton, Brett Fairbairn and Lou Hammond Ketilson—the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives has become a beacon for intellectual and practical knowledge about co-operatives,” said Pigeon. “As director, I want to build on the centre’s existing foundation and reputation, and get federal and provincial policymakers excited about the co-operatives model.”

As a master’s graduate from the University of Ottawa and a PhD graduate from Carleton University, Pigeon’s academic background is in economics as well as communications studies. He has worked in a number of economics and policy-related positions, most recently servings as assistant vice-president of public policy at the Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA).

He has also served as interim-vice president of government relations at CCUA, as a special advisor and senior project leader at the federal Department of Finance, and as lead analyst on several federal Parliamentary committees including the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, and the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. Pigeon worked as an economic researcher at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and started his career as a financial journalist at Bloomberg Business News.

Pigeon has spent his working life in and around academia, policy development and co-operatives/credit unions. His academic research interests also include the study of co-operatives, behavioural economics/psychology, income distribution, money and banking, and fiscal and monetary policy.

For more information and to arrange interviews, contact:

Erica Schindel, Communications and Marketing Specialist
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
University of Saskatchewan
306-966-2663 | erica.schindel@usask.ca