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This article was published 16/9/2015 (1833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON Access Credit Union members cast their ballots in Grunthal.

Access Credit Union members convincingly rejected its second attempted merger with a Winnipeg financial institution Wednesday night.

Access members fell well short of the required two-thirds majority they almost reached in their first merger attempt in April, with a surprisingly low 38.2 percent of voting members supportive of merging with Assiniboine Credit Union.

Access board chair Darryl Loewen said he was disappointed by the outcome.

"While as a board we firmly believe the merger would make two strong credit unions stronger in the face of rapidly changing financial sector, our members felt otherwise," he said in a release.

In total, 1,713 members of the 4,496 ballots cast supported the amalgamation that would have made the two entities the province's largest credit union, ousting Steinbach Credit Union.

After falling shy of the necessary support when over 700 members voted in April, Access members responded with a petition attracting nearly 1,000 signatures that convinced the two credit unions to draft another amalgamation agreement. That revote was held Wednesday night in eight southern Manitoba communities.

Access' reasons for a merger remained the same as it was five months ago, citing the necessity of consolidation in a competitive financial services market.

Assiniboine members were going to vote on the merger Monday but that vote is cancelled. Assiniboine members voted 95 percent in favour in the initial April vote.

A 45-minute question period as part of Wednesday's meeting shed some insight into the opposition a majority of voting Access members felt.

A few individuals questioned the purpose of uniting with a Winnipeg financial institution that did not share rural values.

Loewen said they thought of building a branch in Winnipeg but it did not make economic sense with their 2,500 members in the city residing throughout Winnipeg. He said other rural credit unions that have built branches in the province's capital have not had success.

One question Loewen was prepared for dealt with the charitable organizations Assiniboine supports from a woman who was concerned about religious groups being forgotten.

Loewen listed about 15 organizations Assiniboine supports, including faith-based, social justice and a refugee support group, which he said was a tenth of the entities Assiniboine donates to.

"I count that list to be a striking similarity to a parable I know in Matthew 25," he said. "I like that list."

A former youth pastor in Winkler made headlines last spring when he said he didn't want to join a financial institution supporting LGBT groups. He did not know how many individuals his opinion influenced.

Wednesday's vote tally:

4,496 ballots cast

Number in favour - 1,713 or 38.19%

Number against - 2,772 votes or 61.81%

Update: Write-thru, 11:26 p.m.