First a little background. CPIA was formed in 1939 to serve the interests of Canadian printers and give the industry a national voice. It is headquartered in Ottawa and today has four primary functions: to advocate on behalf of the industry to the federal government; to facilitate networking among printers, which it does primarily through an annual conference; to distribute information about the industry; and to secure discounts for its members on various services.

Now, it gets a little tricky. In some areas of the country, membership to the CPIA is direct, meaning that printers pay their fees to the association. In other areas—B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario—membership to CPIA is through the provincial associations, commonly called FARAs for Formally Affiliated Regional Associations. It is an arrangement that works in theory, but must in fact be executed with extreme care. Communications issues, misunderstandings, and even scrapes over operational control have complicated things over the last 10 years. 

Here’s the issue. Over the last eight years, CPIA membership has declined by more than 50%. In an industry that can claim about 9,000 printers only slightly more than 300 are members of CPIA. The recent recession exacerbated that decline. Dues have also plummeted. In 2009 CPIA posted a loss of $138,000, forcing it to dip into its reserves, carefully accumulated over the years. In short, if the association does not get an infusion of cash in the short term, and is not able to put in place a long-term survival plan, it will cease to exist in a few months.

Now, let me be clear. Before anyone sharpens his or her pencil to write me angry letters, this is not about pointing fingers at anyone or any single body involved in this regrettable situation. Yes, there is squabbling, and maybe the current structure does not work, but from what I can see, everyone involved seems sincere, cares about the industry and wants a healthy national association, even if they can’t always agree on how to do it.  

And yes, there are some people, maybe members who have dropped their memberships, who could argue that there is no value in belonging to the associations. 

The trouble is the alternative is worse.

If CPIA is allowed to falter and fall, the industry will loose a valuable resource, particularly in government affairs. Even if this is all CPIA does, it is worth ensuring it thrives. Consider: CPIA played a role in Ottawa in getting the accelerated capital allowance passed; it is working with Industry Canada to reverse a decision scrapping the requirement that material be printed in Canada to qualify for a postal subsidy; it regularly makes submissions to Committee hearings—in fact its position is actively sought by federal representatives; it worked to preserve Bill C-9 allowing printers to keep the status quo for international mail delivery. 

All of these initiatives benefit all printers, not simply those who are members, and losing our lobbyists in Ottawa along with losing the chance of having our collective voice heard at the federal level would harm the whole industry.

The bottom line is this: CPIA needs more members to keep going; whether those members come through the FARAs or go directly is not as critical as raising the number. No other solution will work in the long run and the existing base can’t sustain the current structure for long. 

The easiest thing in the world is point out the wrongs others do. Perhaps this time we should shift our focus to the positive and consider what we’d be losing.