This is our monthly checkin for August 4th, 2020. Panel guests are John Kay, Thom Armstrong and Ross Gentleman. We continue our discussion of the impact of COVID-19 on co-operatives. Special guest Adam Trott is the recent winner of St. Mary's University - International Centre for Co-operative Management's essay competition #Co-ops4JustEconomy.
In Part 1 of this series, we introduced Oasis Senior Supportive Living which promotes aging in place for seniors with activities to combat social isolation and foster good health. Oasis began in one apartment building in Kingston, Ontario 11 years ago. Members there have created a supportive community through social activities, communal meals and group [...]
Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver is going co-op!?! Artistic Director Kim Selody explains how the co-op is a way to move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic and opens up opportunities for artists to collaborate and connect. Also, our Worker Co-op Sector Checkin with Chris Nichols of Woodshop Workers Co-op.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the inadequacies of long-term care for seniors with high rates of infection and subsequent deaths in these institutions. Moreover, the isolation, already felt by so many residents, has been made worse as family and caregiver visits were put on hold, only now beginning to resume in [...]
Vancouver's People's Co-op Bookstore was created in 1945, just before the end of WWII. It has always served the community with books that are socially significant. I spoke with Board Chair Laurel McBride about how the co-op got started, its evolution and where it goes from here. (Note: Since this interview, the bookstore has announced [...]
"Our building is closed, but our hearts are open!" That's the motto these days of The Ryde Community Co-operative in rural Ryde, Ontario. Board President Nancy Cronin says COVID-19 has meant shuttering the beloved "little building with a big heart" that has been so much a part of the co-op's history and programming for 20 [...]
The people of Nova Scotia have worked together to remain strong through several major tragedies this Spring AND done so while also adapting to the "new normal" brought by COVID-19. We checked in with local co-operator, Erin Hancock, to find out how folks are coping and how local co-ops are faring during the pandemic. Erin [...]
The Youth Excellence Society (YES) has been providing leadership training to British Columbia's youth through the support of the province's co-operative and credit union sector for 45 years. This has continued through the COVID-19 pandemic with a series of "Care Package" podcasts offering support and humor to youth around BC. The pandemic has meant that [...]
Co-operation is replacing hyper-partisanship as Canadian politicians respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Can this become the "new normal?" And how will co-operative federalism work to tackle the glaring gaps in long-term care and paid sick leave for workers who fear losing income so show up ill and spread the virus? We asked Jody Wilson-Raybould, the [...]
Decades of research in the making, Dr. Marcelo Vieta's book, "Worker's Self-Management in Argentina: Contesting Neo-Liberalism by Occupying Companies, Creating Cooperatives, and Recuperating Autogestión" is a remarkable work of academic and political reporting. Grounded in class struggle Marxism, the book delves into Argentina’s long tradition of working-class activism, the broader history of workers’ responses to capitalist crisis, and [...]
