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 [...]
In 1996, members of Saskatoon's Riversdale neighbourhood created a community-based organization to help youth engage in creative economic activities based on the co-operative principles and environmentalism. Since then, the Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op has evolved into a program that offers high school credits, skill development, leadership and empowerment. The philosophy of CNYC can best be [...]
This is our monthly checkin for April 7th, 2020. The entire world has changed in the 5 weeks since we last spoke. Tonight we discuss what the present and future holds for co-operatives in the time of COVID. How impactful will this pandemic be on the co-op sector and our world? What can we look forward to?
Victory Gardens is a small Vancouver co-operative business founded in 2012. They can be hired to build you a garden in your own back yard, and teach you how to grow food in the middle of the city!
