Co-ops in the time of COVID – Check-ins with John Kay, Thom Armstrong & Ross Gentleman

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:08 — 61.2MB)

We’re all in this together!

“We’re all in this together” has been the motto for the community pandemic response. This is an all too familiar phase to co-operator’s ears. 

This is our monthly checkins 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? 

Our co-op checkins in different times.

Our guest panel 

• John Kay, President of the board Co-ops and Mutuals of Canada, Vice-Chair of the BC Co-operative Association, and CEO of Realize Strategies Co-op
• Thom Armstrong, CEO, Co-operative Housing Federation of BC
• Ross Gentleman, Former General Manager of CCEC Credit Union and a blogger on credit union matters at CuFutures.ca

Tonight’s discussion topics include 

• Economic Impacts
  • Who is going to be hardest hit by the recession following the pandemic 
  • How credit unions and co-ops weather the financial storms 
  • Co-ops and Mutuals Canada ensuring c0-ops have access to new federal programs
•  Credit Unions Impacts
  • Working in branches in a time of communicable diseases
  • Getting cash into people’s hands when they need it 
  • Loan restructuring 
  • Getting access to government programs 
  • How this will impact rural credit unions as compared to urban credit unions
• Housing Impacts 
  • City lease negotiations (still ongoing discussions) 
  • CHFBC services effected by social distancing 
  • Federation’s financial pool rates dropping along with the prime rate
  • Moving CHFBC conference online 
• Impacts for all co-ops
  • Juggling working from home (and some with children) 
  • Deadline changes to AGM requirements 
  • Using virtual tools for meetings, work and AGMs
  • Potential for this to change the way we live and the way we work 
  • Opportunities for co-ops to try new tools to engage more members  
• Recovery of our Social System
  • Rise of overdoses in Vancouver and the immediate introduction of a safe supply to medicinal drugs in the downtown east side 
  • $300 more a month for people on social benefits 
  • Could we see a guaranteed basic income?
  • Nonpartisan collaboration in politics 
  • What are the features of the response that will survive the crisis? Who is going to roll these back in good conscience? 

Read Ross’s latest blog post