It’s Canadian Co-op Week - Oct 13th to 19th! Co-op Week has been celebrated by francophones throughout Canada since 1958. In 1981 celebrations were held among anglophone co-ops in the Maritimes and Saskatchewan. The event went national in 1982 with the encouragement of the Co-operative Union of Canada, a predecessor of Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada. [...]
Are Canadian and U.S. co-operators putting Principle 6 - Co-operation Among Co-operatives, into action? We examined this growing connection and news from the co-op scene south of the border with Doug O'Brien, President and CEO of the National Co-operative Business Association. Joining Doug on our panel were Ross Gentleman, chief economist for CCEC Credit Union [...]
In this installment we speak with Jane Philpott, the Independent MP for Markham-Stouffville in Ontario. We also speak with Shauna Sylvester, Executive Director of SFU's Centre for Dialogue who reports that Canadians want in on their democracy but are frustrated with the way it works now.
Cheese Co-op Closing after 134 years The Pine River Cheese and Butter Co-operative in Kincardine, Ontario is closing its doors after 134 years. 25 employees are out of work. The board of the farmer-owned co-operative made the decision Friday to cease operations. Production is slated to end later this month and sales expected to [...]
There's a federal election on October 21 and abundant studies and stories of Canadians being dissatisfied with the status quo. They are asking what if, instead of attack ads, war rooms and battleground ridings, politicians of all stripes worked co-operatively across party lines to solve urgent problems?
Brave Technology Co-op Wins $1 million to Help Drug Crisis Congratulations to Vancouver based Brave Technology Co-op. Brave is one of four winning proposals to Ohio’s Opioid Technology Challenge. Each winner receives one million dollars to develop their idea for the comericial market. https://radio.wosu.org/post/ohio-opioid-technology-challenges-awards-1-million-four-projects#stream/0 Desjardins Launches Cooperathon to Tackle Social Issues Desjardins announced the [...]
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 [...]
