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 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?
http://cufutures.ca/2020/04/06/credit-unions-sidelined-by-covid-19/
