Financial Boost for Young Co-operators Canada’s young co-operators received a big boost Aug. 27 with the announcement of $38 million in federal funding for those who want to start co-operative businesses. The funds are a renewal of the financial agreement for Futurepreneur Canada, a national non-profit organization which provides services and programs to emerging co-operators. [...]
Calgary Co-op Opts Out of FCL Food Purchasing System This week Calgary Co-op informed Federated Co-operatives Limited (F-C-L) that it will begin buying food from a private company early next year. Calgary co-op represents the largest wholesale customer for FCL. In an email statement, Calgary Co-op spokesperson Sage Pullen McIntosh said its food business “operates [...]
Calgary Co-op To Expand Compostable Bag Program The Calgary Co-op marked Earth Day this year by introducing a compostable bag program and charging a 5 cent fee for plastic bags. Since then, the Co-op says it’s seen a 73% reduction in plastic bag use over the same period last year. That’s why it’s going [...]
Desjardin announces life-long identify protection for privacy members Desjardin announced free and automatic data theft protection for all of their clients. This comes after the major data breach affecting some 2.7 members. The protection plan includes up to $50,000 in financial compensation for expenses related to data theft, and identity theft insurance. https://www.thenews.coop/140971/sector/banking-and-insurance/desjardins-announces-identity-theft-protection-members/ https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/privacy-breach-desjardins-announces-identity-theft-protection-for-all-caisse-members-888333022.html [...]
Unions Boycott Westminster Savings Credit Union The BC Federation of Labour has called for a boycott of Westminster Savings Credit Union. The credit union plans to close its Shaughnessy Station branch in Port Coquitlam. The branch has been on strike since January. Westminster Savings denies the branch closure has anything to do with the unionized [...]
Parliamentary committee on public safety set to take up Desjardins data breach The House of Commons public safety and national security committee met this week to discuss data breaches. The meeting came about because of issues from the Desjarden data breach we reported on last month. They discussed how to prevent future breaches and [...]
Government Safety and Security Committee Will Discuss Desjardin Privacy Breach Last month Desjardin disclosed a security breach affecting 2.9 million of their members. Private information including names, birthdays, social insurance numbers and addresses were illegally given to a third party. This information can be used by criminals for crimes such as identity fraud. Two class [...]
Real English Victoria Closes Some sad news this week about a unique English-language school and worker co-op in Victoria. Real English Victoria has permanently closed after three years of teaching English based on students’ real needs, not a prescribed and often irrelevant curriculum which can be the case in many other schools. Finances seem to [...]
Federated Co-ops donates $2M to Communities In the spirit of giving back to the communities it serves, Federated Co-ops Limited has donated a record $2 million this year to improve public spaces in Western Canada. The funds will go to 26 projects such as playgrounds, skating rinks, early learning centres and community gardens through the [...]
Federated Co-op Buying Ethanol Plant in Saskatchewan Federated Co-ops Limited is preparing for the incoming national clean fuel standard by purchasing an ethanol plant in Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan. FCL's vice president of strategy Pam Skotnitsky says the plan is to make the plant more efficient at carbon capture and storage technologies. Currently, the facility converts [...]