CoopZone

CoopZone Developers' Network Co-operative

Fall-Winter 2015 Newsletter  www.coopzone.coop
Volume 5
Issue 3                                                           

                                                                                                      

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In This Issue
CoopZone AGM 2015/ L'AGA de CoopZone 2015
Want to create good, sustainable jobs for Canada? Try co-ops
How the co-op model keeps businesses alive when boomers cash out
Monique F. Leroux elected president of the International Co-operative Alliance / Monique F. Leroux élue à la présidence de l'Alliance coopérative internationale
Concern for Community - book launch (by Ian MacPherson, etc.)
Governance as a Determinant of Success and Failure
2016 Joint CASC-ACE Conference CFP/RFP now available!
Optimisation du réseau des CDR : la CDR du Québec est constituée
Engaging Diversity Conference
Co-operatives: a solid lever to take on climate challenge / Les coopératives : un puissant levier pour relever les défis climatiques
How Co-ops Build Stronger Communities
Delegates vote to create a designated youth seat on the CMC Board of Directors / Vote des délégués au sujet de la création d'un siège désigné pour les jeunes au conseil d'administration de CMC
Thank you Mauril! / Merci Mauril!
CoopZone Wishes You the Best of the Season!


CoopZone AGM 2015 Report /Announcing in-person 2016 AGM
CoopZone
The CoopZone AGM was held by conference call on September 23, 2015.   Elections welcomed a new board member Erwan Bouchard (Manitoba Co-operative Association) representing the Prairies seat replacing Jamila Bachiri who completed her term. Thanks to Jamila, and also to Martin Van Den Borre (of Quebec) who resigned due to no longer working in co-op development, for their time and many contributions!  Also re-elected were Peter Cameron (Ontario) and Pascal Billard (Quebec).  The board reorganization meeting resulted in Kevin Harding as President, Pascal Billard as Vice President and Jill Kelly as Treasurer.  This means that we now have a fluently bilingual President, and our Treasurer is a Chartered Accountant. All resolutions passed.   

Yuill Herbert of Sustainability Solutions Group/ CWCF Board, who now chairs the Sustainability Committee of the International Co-op Alliance, presented on Climate Change and the Co-op Movement.  His presentation is posted here.

2016 AGM, to be held in person, June 2016 in Winnipeg, MB
CoopZone is thrilled to announce that its 2016 AGM will be a first:  in -person, while still offering the option of participating via tele-conference.  It will be held in the context of the Congress of Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada in Winnipeg, on Tuesday, June 14th at 4 pm CT/ local time; i.e., 5 pm ET.  (The exact time is to be confirmed, but this is likely accurate.)  Please mark your calendars now!  For those attending the Congress or who live in Winnipeg, note that there will be a Co-op Development Foundation fund-raiser in the evening which people can attend to continue socializing with fellow CoopZone members and other Congress participants. 

Want to create good, sustainable jobs for Canada? Try co-ops
by Kevin Harding (Board President,  CoopZone )

In the coming months and years, the new federal government will make important decisions about jobs: how we create them, protect them and make them more sustainable.

Many Canadians believe there's a trade-off to be made between employment and environmental sustainability. But that doesn't have to be the case -- particularly if we look at co-operatives as a source of jobs.... read the full article here.
How the co-op model keeps businesses alive when boomers cash out
The Globe and Mail
Published 
Last updated 


As hundreds of thousands of baby-boomers prepare to retire from the small businesses they own, most will overlook one succession option; converting their enterprise into a co-operative.

Many boomer-owners ponder transferring their companies to their children, or selling to a senior manager in the firm. Others are looking to outside buyers or even private equity investors. But transforming into a co-op - owned by the company's employees or even by its customers - can be an effective alternative, argues Peter Cameron, development manager at the Ontario Co-operative Association, an organization that promotes the formation of co-ops.   Read the full article here.
 
Monique F. Leroux elected president of the International Co-operative Alliance / Monique F. Leroux élue à la présidence de l'Alliance coopérative internationale
Ottawa, November 13, 2015  - Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) congratulates Monique F. Leroux on her election as President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA). Ms. Leroux was nomina ted by CMC and her candidacy received the support of CMC members.  Read the full news release here.
   
En francais
 
Ottawa, le 13 novembre 2015 - Coopératives et mutuelles Canada  (CMC) félicite Monique F. Leroux pour son élection au poste de présidente de l'Alliance coopérative internationale (ACI).  La mise en candidature de Mme Leroux a été effectuée par CMC au nom de ses membres.   Lire les nouvelles de presse complet ici. 
Concern for Community: The Relevance of Co-operatives to Peace
New e-book by By Ian MacPherson & Yehudah Paz
Edited by Joy Emmanuel (Past President, CoopZone)
Released on  December 10, 2015

The book is available for download for Free by visiting:  www.peace.coop.

A new e-book on the history, theory, and practice of co-operatives and peace by the late Dr Ian MacPherson and the late Dr Yehudah Paz was released on December 10, 2015. 
 
As part of several initiatives focused on co-operatives and peace, Ian and Yehudah were working on this publication at the time of their unfortunate passings in November 2013. Concern for Community: The Relevance of Co-operatives to Peace contains the distillation of the authors' convictions on how peacebuilding is at the core of the co-operative model of enterprise and how co-operatives can make a fundamental contribution to peace making initiatives.
 
Drawing on their many years of direct experience in the co-operative sector and their contributions to the field of Co-operative Studies, the authors lay out their insights on the subject of co-operatives and peace. From a review of the historical record to the development of the Co-operative Identity Statement in 1995, the authors illustrate how peace has been a significant theme in the life of the international co-operative movement.  From an examination of how co-operatives empower their members to address inequalities and social tensions in local communities, to defining the role co-operatives can play in building relationships among all parties in war-torn regions, they explain how the co-operative movement has developed a set of values and practices that build on a concern for community and form a natural bridge to building a more just, peaceful world.
 
"Peacebuilding happens in communities not on battlefields," claims Dr Ian MacPherson. "And it is in this context that co-operatives can make their greatest contribution to building a more peaceful world."
 
"Peacemaking is central to the growth of the co-operative movement," asserts Dr Yehudah Paz, "and co-operatives are relevant to matters of peacemaking and conflict resolution at the level of neighbour-to-neighbour within and across communities, regions, and nations."
 
The writings of the authors are complimented by nine case studies illustrating how co-operatives embody practices of peacebuilding from employment creation for marginalized groups of people and establishing savings plans in impoverished communities; to addressing discriminatory practices around race, ethnicity, gender, and religion; to engaging in sensitive practices of peacebuilding in communities affected by outright violent conflict.
 
"This book is part of the legacy of two men who deeply believed in co-operatives as a value-based tool for development, as well as the role of the co-operative movement in brokering peace," states Vivian Silver, Former Co-Executive Director, AJEEC-NISPED, Israel.
 
"The co-operative movement has not yet been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, but this book makes one hopeful that it might one day be more fully acknowledged for its role in promoting an ideal longed for with more urgency in recent days."  Charles Gould, Director General of the ICA
 
Concern for Community: The Relevance of Co-operatives to Peace will be available as of December 10, 2015 as a free e-book. See: www.peace.coop
 
Thanks to the Co-operative News for assistance in distribution and promotion of the publication and other co-operative organizations for support in promoting the publication, including: the ICA Research Committee ( ccr.ica.coop ) , Negeva Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development ( http://en.ajeec-nisped.org.il/ ) , the Co-operative Development Foundation (www.cdfcanada.coop) the Canadian Co-operative Association ( www.coopscanada.coop ) , Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) ( http://canada.coop/) , and the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) (  http://www.coopresearch.coop/) .
 
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Dr Yehudah Paz was founder and Chair of the Negva Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED).  Yehudah served as director of the ICA Board from 1993-2005, he was chair of the ICA Human Resource Development Committee from many years, and also served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Asia-Pacific region. He was Chairperson of the Department of International Relations of the Central Union of Co-operative Societies in Israel and academic Director of the Israel Co-operative College. In 2005, he was award the Rochdale Pioneers Award from the ICA and in 2006 he received the Golden Dove of Peace prize from the Institute for International Research Disarmament Archives (IRIAD) in Italy. Dr Paz was a member of Kibbutz Kissufim from 1951 until his death in 2013. Throughout his life, he worked for peace, political justice, and the cause of international co-operation.
 
Ian MacPherson was a leading figure in both the Canadian and International Co-operative Movement.  He was an historian, a scholar, a co-operative activist and a strong promoter of the field of Co-operative Studies. For many years, Ian was the Director of the British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies a research center he founder at the University of Victoria in 1999 to promote Co-operative Studies.  He served as Chairperson of the ICA Research Committee at the time of the revision of the 1995 Principles and the development of the Co-operative Identity Statement for the Twenty-First Century. He played a leading role in the founding of the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Canadian Association for the Study of Co-operation.  For over forty years, Ian served on the board of many co-operatives including serving as president of Credit Union Central of British Columbia, and on the boards of consumer, financial, and health care co-operatives. Along with teaching, Ian contributed to the field of Co-operative Studies through his prolific writing. He wrote and co-edited over 20 books, 150 articles and gave over 300 conference presentations. 
 
Joy Emmanuel,
Editor, Concern for Community: The Relevance of Co-operatives to Peace
Turning Times Research and Consulting
Joy.turningtimes@gmail.com

Governance as a Determinant of Success and Failure

Governance as a Determinant of Success and Failure: What Other Co-ops Can Learn from Co-op Atlantic," by Brett Fairbairn, Murray Fulton, and Dionne Pohler is available for free download at this link.  
 

2016 Joint CASC-ACE Conference CFP/RFP now available!

You are invited to submit your proposals to this year's Joint Conference of the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) and the Association of Cooperative Educators (ACE): Energizing Communities: Co-operatives Nurturing Democratic Practice! The conference will be held June 1-3, 2016 at the University of Calgary, Alberta.

You will find the CFP/RFP at the following links,
in English and  en Francais. Please feel free to distribute the CFPs, and note that proposals are due January 15th, 2016 .

Optimisation du réseau des CDR : la CDR du Québec est constituée 
[Veuillez noter que la CDR unique est membre de CoopZone.]

Communiqué, Pour diffusion immédiate


Québec, le 1er septembre 2015 - La démarche d'optimisation et de restructuration du réseau des Coopératives de développement régionales (CDR) a franchi une nouvelle étape la semaine dernière avec la tenue de l'assemblée générale d'organisation (AGO) de la Coopérative de développement régional du Québec, coop de solidarité (CDRQ).

Rappelons que le réseau des CDR chemine dans un processus de restructuration depuis plusieurs mois afin, d'une part, de répondre à la demande de gouvernance unifiée signifiée par son principal bailleur de fonds, le Ministère de l'Économie, de l'Innovation et des Exportations (MEIE) et, d'autre part, de se donner les moyens de tendre vers l'atteinte des cibles ambitieuses de création de coopératives du Plan stratégique intégré du Mouvement coopératif.

Un pas de plus vers la gouvernance unifiée
Tel que prévu dans le modèle entériné en juin par le réseau des CDR, la CDRQ est dotée d'un conseil d'administration représentatif des coopératives et mutuelles de chaque région. Son règlement de régie interne prévoit également la constitution de comités consultatifs régionaux pour assurer l'ancrage régional de la CDRQ sur tout le territoire. « Il était clair pour tous les intervenants impliqués dans le dossier que l'ancrage dans les milieux constitue l'élément-clé du développement coopératif régional. Nous nous sommes donc assurés de doter la nouvelle CDRQ d'instances consultatives pour porter les priorités régionales au CA et pour agir sur le terrain comme ambassadeurs du développement coopératif de la région » a affirmé monsieur Richard Normandeau, président de la Fédération des Coopératives de développement régional du Québec (FCDRQ).

Le processus d'optimisation amorcé au printemps s'est poursuivi tout au long de la saison estivale. En parallèle des travaux du comité provisoire visant la constitution de la CDRQ, une analyse de faisabilité financière du modèle et un état de situation sur la gestion des ressources humaines du réseau ont été produits. Un comité de transition a également été à pied d'oeuvre pour élaborer un plan de transition et émettre des recommandations à l'intention du CA de la CDRQ sur divers aspects de la démarche.

Les étapes à venir

Au cours prochaines semaines, les CDR vivront des moments charnières de discussions sur leur avenir, alors que leurs membres, réunis en Assemblées générales extraordinaires, trancheront sur la question du regroupement de leur CDR au sein de la CDRQ. À l'issue de ce processus, les CDR seront à même de confirmer leur adhésion au regroupement à la CDRQ et prendre le virage officiel vers la mise en place effective de la CDRQ, prévue pour le 1er janvier 2016.

D'ici à ce que les officiers de la nouvelle entité soient nommés, la Fédération des CDR poursuit son mandat de mise en oeuvre du processus. Richard Normandeau, président de la FCDRQ souligne par ailleurs que la période transitoire « s'effectuera sous le signe de la continuité des services ». Il précise : « Les coopératives demeurent le coeur de nos préoccupations et nous veillons à ce que la transition se fasse sans affecter les liens de service et les projets en cours. Nos équipes sont la plus grande richesse du réseau et elles continueront d'assurer le lien direct avec les coopératives et les organisations partenaires sur le terrain, pendant et après la période de transition ».

À propos de la Fédération des coopératives de développement régional du Québec

La Fédération des coopératives de développement régional du Québec (FCDRQ) a pour mission de soutenir et d'accompagner les coopératives de développement régional (CDR) dans la réalisation de leur mission. Elle assure la coordination et la concertation du réseau des CDR. Au cours des 5 dernières années, les CDR ont contribué au démarrage de plus de 560 coopératives ainsi qu'à la création de plus de 1 600 emplois.
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Source :
Geneviève Gourde
Directrice générale par intérim
Fédération des Coopératives de développement régional du Québec
418-656-1335 poste 333
Saskatchewan Co-operative Association
Engaging Diversity Conference
 
Register today to be a part of this 
exciting conference!

Demographic shifts in Saskatchewan are presenting many challenges and opportunities that call for innovations in co-operation. Our general population is aging. Our Aboriginal population is young and growing. More newcomers to our country are coming to Saskatchewan. The population shift from smaller rural communities to more urban ones continues.

This conference will help managers and boards of co-operatives and credit unions to understand the impact of increased diversity. Together we will explore the most effective ways to engage and benefit from it.  Click here for more information.

Co-operatives: a solid lever to take on climate challenge / Les coopératives : un puissant levier pour relever les défis climatiques
From the news feed at CMC

***Le français suit***

At the COP21 Conference, the ICMIF and International Co-operative Alliance delegation has urged heads of state to agree to effective and ambitious measures against climate change. They call attention to unique qualities which make co-operatives a long term and solid lever to achieve a more sustainable economy. Read more here.

En français:

Au cours de la Conférence de la COP21, les délégations de la Fédération internationale des coopératives et mutuelles d'assurance (ICMIF) et de l'Alliance coopérative internationale ont formellement prié les chefs d'État de convenir de mesures efficaces et ambitieuses contre le changement climatique.  Elles ont souligné les qualités exceptionnelles dont sont dotées les coopératives et qui en font un levier puissant et actionnable à long terme permettant de bâtir une économie plus durable. Lire la suite ici.
 
How Co-ops Build Stronger Communities, a New Economy and a Better World  
Cooperatives build stronger communities by keeping money, resources, jobs, and economic control local. Their impact has been so widespread and significant that more businesses are electing  to transition into cooperatives. 

Read more here

Note that Co-ops Build image is part of a poster series. Click on the image to purchase.
Delegates vote to create a designated youth seat on the CMC Board of Directors / Vote des délégués au sujet de la création d'un siège désigné pour les jeunes au conseil d'administration de CMC 
Note that CoopZone was represented by our delegate and Board President, Kevin Harding.

From the News Feed of CMC 


 
***Le français suit*** 
 
Delegates voted to add a designated youth seat to the Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC) Board of Directors on Wednesday November 25 during a special members meeting in Ottawa. This vote confirms CMC members' desire to engage youth perspectives in the co-operative movement in Canada.  Read more
 
 
Le français  
Notez que le délégué de CoopZone à CMC ést le président de notre CA, Kevin Harding. 
 
Le mercredi 25 novembre dernier, au cours d'une réunion spéciale des membres à Ottawa, les délégués ont voté en faveur de l'ajout d'un siège désigné pour les jeunes au conseil d'administration de Coopératives et mutuelles Canada (CMC). Ce vote confirme le désir des membres de CMC de faire entendre les points de vue des jeunes au sein du mouvement coopératif canadien.   
En savoir plus
 
Thank you Mauril! /Merci Mauril! 

From the News Feed of CMC

***Le français suit***

In the days since our [CMC] Delegate meeting and Parliamentary Reception, Mr. Bélanger has shared some heartbreaking news about his health. He has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS).  There has already been an outpouring of sympathy and support from the co-op sector, and we wish to reaffirm that support to Mauril and to his family as he confronts this challenge.

Mr. Bélanger has done a lot for co-operative issues on Parliament Hill and we will honour his work by working with him to bring those efforts to fruition.   More ...


En français:

Dans les jours qui ont suivi la réunion des délégués et la réception parlementaire, M. Bélanger nous a confié de bien tristes nouvelles sur sa santé : en effet, il a reçu un diagnostic de maladie de Lou Gehrig (SLA). Le secteur coopératif lui a aussitôt exprimé toute sa sympathie et son soutien, et nous souhaitons réaffirmer ce soutien à Mauril et à sa famille à la lumière de cet immense défi.

M. Bélanger a fait beaucoup pour défendre la cause des coopératives sur la Colline parlementaire, et nous honorerons son travail en travaillant avec lui pour que tous ces efforts portent leurs fruits.   Plus...
 
CoopZone is a network of people and organizations which help others to start and develop co-operatives.   
Please send any comments, suggestions and ideas for articles to: 

 

Kaye Grant  
Editor of CoopZone Newsletter 
communications@canadianworker.coop
Phone: 204-257- 1198