Prince Edward Island Co-operative Council

The Worker Co-op Toolbox

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:45:28 +0000

How to start a Worker Co-op – Mira Luna

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:21:38 +0000

In the age of unemployment, downsizing, and outsourcing, where can a poor soul find a job? Well, maybe it’s time we create our own. Self-employment is an option and can seem freeing, but it’s hard to do everything yourself and find time for a non-work life. The worker coop is an alternative to the isolation of self-employment and the exploitation of traditional jobs.

Worker coops can be more satisfying than working for the man. Worker-owners aren’t forced into a hierarchy, and they have more say over what the business does than traditional employees. You still have to be responsible managing a coop, maybe more so, but your coworker-owners will likely be nicer and more understanding of personal needs and quirks than middle-management at any corporation. You will probably make more money by cutting out the investors and managers, unless you were one of them, in which case: welcome to egalitarianism! In typical low-paying industries, worker-owners can make several times what they were pulling in as employees. For example, in Petaluma, California, Alvarado Street Bakery worker-owners take home around sixty-thousand dollars a year – a Hell of a lot better than working for minimum wage. As a worker-owner, you are less likely to get laid off, both because coops prioritize steady employment over short-term profits, and because they are more sustainable than their conventional counterparts.

So what is a worker coop? It’s an enterprise owned and democratically controlled by its workers. There are endless variations on coops, which means there are many questions to consider before forming your own unique venture. Remember you are starting a real business, not a hippie commune! If you’ve never started a business before, you will need support – read up on how to start a firm, get advice from coop development organizations (listed below), and talk to coop-friendly lawyers and accountants. You will need a business plan, coop-specific legal incorporation documents, and capital to finance you in the beginning. Additionally, you will want an organization plan detailing how you will run your coop cooperatively.

Courtesy of Rainbow Grocery

One of the first barriers to starting a worker cooperative is finding others willing to be part of the initiating group. If you are working at a business that wants to be converted to a coop (whether the managers know it or not), you may already have your members. To find new folks, it may be helpful to send an announcement to any work-related listservs (like for groups interested in food justice, hackers, and even hippie communes) and post flyers at related businesses or job assistance centers in your area. Invite people to a meeting for your new enterprise or better yet, hold a general coop matchmaker start-up fair where people can meet, get to know each other and discuss first steps. Invite pre-existing coops to offer initial advice, then set up a listserv or wiki that helps people find each other by posting new coop opportunities on an ongoing basis. Some worker cooperative development organizations listed below can help with this.

Once you’ve gathered your initiating group, here are some questions to consider when forming a worker coop:

What is your common goal and purpose? Fair employment for people of color, access to healthy food, sustainability, independent media, selling locally produced goods? This will make decision-making easier and get you through the tough times.
Are you forming a new business or converting an old one? If it’s new, is there a market for your service or product, do you have a niche, what is your expertise? Being a coop gives you a leg up, but you still must provide a needed product or service that competes in the greater, cutthroat capitalist marketplace … until it collapses. If it’s a drowning business, is the owner willing to sell and how will you save it? You may need to make major changes to make it sustainable.
Who will be on your team? It helps to have people in your crew with experience in your product or service, skills in running the different parts of a business (management, accounting, marketing, etc.) or at least friendly consultants on hand to do these things, as well as people skills (communication, meeting facilitation, decision-making). Your team needs to really be into the coop model, even if they learn the details later. Remember you will be making a long-term commitment to spending 40+ hours weekly together, depending on each other for survival, making major decisions together, and caring for each other (that sounds like marriage!).
How will new worker-owners join? Trial periods are highly recommended – think dating, engagement, then marriage – no need to rush. Some coops have a buy-in requirement to become an official owner. This can be in an initial lump sum investment, periodic deductions from paychecks, or sweat equity contribution to demonstrate serious long-term commitment and give equal power. Training new worker-owners how to run the business as a cooperative is crucial – people are often trained in the business world to compete, control, and manipulate, not cooperate or communicate. On the other hand, people who are into cooperation often don’t have business skills or work-specific expertise. Your team really needs both.
How will you manage your coop? Collectively, with rotating representative managers, professional hired managers? Usually big coops have more hierarchy and job divisions. Small coops tend to collectively manage and pitch in to run the different parts of a business. There is no one way, but democracy rules. Disguised and non-consensual hierarchies though can be particularly damaging to morale.
How, when, and who will make decisions? Consensus, super-majority, majority? It helps to clarify the process in detail and delegate minor or certain types of decisions to individuals or committees so you don’t spend too much time in meetings. Believe me, long indecisive meetings have killed more coops than the financial crisis. On the other hand, transparency, inclusion and frequent communication maintain the cohesiveness and trust of the group. Consensus works in small groups that get along and have a lot in common. In bigger, more diverse groups, it can create enough inertia and conflict to stifle a business. I like using modified consensus (try to get everyone’s enthusiastic agreement if possible) and super-majorities as a good middle path. The key here is not voting-rule dogma but developing a communication process that allows everyone to be heard and resolve disputes fairly.
How much money will you need and where will you get funding? From your new worker-owners, a loan from the former owner, a loan from a bank (try one that has loaned to coops successfully), or a grant for worker-coop start-ups? Be realistic about your budget – people may be leaving their lifeline paycheck and you need to make sure you have enough funds for everyone to make it until the business becomes profitable – or non-profitable if that’s your bag. One failed coop can give them all a bad rap.

Whew! That sounds like a lot of work. But worker-owners I’ve talked to say in the long run it’s totally worth it. There are resources listed below to help you get started, including worker-coop development organizations. Starting a new coop can create jobs, not just for you, but also for people who may have never had the opportunity to own a business or earn a living wage. Worker coops are part of a larger movement to create an economy that is democratic, just, and takes care of everyone. And it can start with you and your coworkers.

Mira Luna is the Organizing Director and a writer for Shareable covering grassroots economics. She is a long time social and environmental justice activist, community organizer and journalist, working to develop an alternative economy.

Marijuana grow-op co-op planned by P.E.I. group

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:08:11 +0000

A group of Prince Edward Islanders who use medical marijuana is trying to develop a plan for a co-op business to grow the drug.

As of the end of next month, medical marijuana users in Canada will no longer be allowed to grow their own supply. Instead, they’ll have to obtain the drug from a supplier authorized by the federal government.

Keith Kennedy has been using medical marijuana since injuring his back in 2002. He said there would be many advantages for Islanders using medical marijuana to have their own, approved production co-op.

“The client is going to be connected to the plant that they wish to consume. They’re going to know that it’s organic. They’re going to know that it has a high quality, that it’s going to be good for them,” said Kennedy.

“We would be creating jobs, involving our consumers in the product and we would be keeping it local.”

Kennedy and his group are looking for 100 people willing to pay $500 each to become co-op members. A Charlottetown accounting firm is prepared to write up a business plan for the group, but it first needs to sign up members.

Kennedy said most the federal regulatory requirements regarding the new grow ops are regarding security, and he sees no reason why a co-op should not be able to meet those requirements.

Kier Kenny, a P.E.I. businessman helping out with the project, said cost for users under the new federal plan is a major concern.

“If you’re on a disability pension of $864 a month and you have to pay your food and your lodging out of that, some company has the right to grow the marijuana for you but you can’t afford to buy it,” said Kenny.

“That’s not very much use to our community here on Prince Edward Island.”

Kenny said he has talked to medical marijuana users on a disability pension who agreed a $500 investment is possible.

La Bikery

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 14:34:33 +0000

The Bikery was created by a community of cyclists, thinkers, doers, leaders, motivated people to learn and share their knowledge. It all started when Chrissy Lorette, a former student and cyclist in Montreal and Ottawa, has returned to Moncton. She frequently used the centers and community bicycle coops when she left, places that have missed him on his return. In the summer of 2011, over coffee with friends, the idea was born to create such a space. A group of people with similar interests was then formed and began to work to put into action the ideas proposed. The board of directors is formed.

In the winter of 2011-2012, the group found a name: The Bikery, which was later incorporated as a Cooperative Bikery The Co-operative Ltd / Ltée with a cooperative structure, non-profit.. The Bikery was officially born. The next step was to involve the community in the project. A community meeting was organized to gather input and ideas together. Highly creative and interactive meeting confirmed the need for a community bike center in Greater Moncton. People overwhelmingly encouraged the project and were eager to be able to contribute. During the weeks that followed that meeting were conducted further research both from members of the community centers and other community bike to better understand their organizations, their needs and abilities. These thoughts came to feed the establishment of a business plan. It was then that began fundraising and community relations, members began to join the committee and people ask, “When is it open? How can we help? ”Applications for grants and community partnerships ensued, creating strong ties and allowing the Bikery transform ideas into realities proposed. It was missing one thing: a place to establish the workshop.

Shortly after, a strong partnership was formed with the City of Moncton, which allowed the cooperative to become secure a space in a refurbished firehouse, pleasantly situated on the Assomption Boulevard in downtown Moncton, both directly on the Petitcodiac River and the Trans Canada Trail.

The space has gradually taken shape. It has built benches, installed furniture and works of art then began to appear on the walls. Boxes full of tools and supplies were unpacked and installed to give birth to a workshop and office space. After a summer of renovation and with the help of many volunteers who put his hand into the dough, the Bikery opened its doors in spring 2012. Hiking group, a concert and an outdoor reception marked the official opening, which was attended by nearly 100 members in the newly created space.

The Bikery continues to seek partnerships and commitments in the Greater Moncton and works actively to ensure its sustainability through strong and committed characters. We hope you can join us!

Education key to sustain co-ops…

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:10:15 +0000

At 95 years old, Harold Chapman continues to educate, advocate and adhere to the philosophies and principles that built the co-operative movement in Saskatchewan.

In Sharing My Life, Building the Co-operative Movement, a book he recently co-published with the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Sask-atchewan, he gives a first person account of co-operatives from his experience as a co-operative organizer, thinker, policy-maker, educator and activist over seven decades.

Chapman stressed the importance of education in achieving and maintaining co-operatives.

“Any people’s organization without an adequate educational program is doomed to last a generation and a half,” he said.

Chapman sees a trend of individualism in younger generations who have not been challenged to think about alternative forms of business.

“I think it’s a sad situation where even in the schools that these alternatives aren’t set out,” he said.

“So I say to the co-operatives, you had better be concerned about this. Not just providing merchandising or providing credit or whatever services. You also need to be providing education to members as to what’s involved in owning and controlling your own organization and to be interested in this and to be aware of the alternatives.”

Chapman was heavily influenced by the Great Depression. Years of toil and poor returns on one farm near Saskatoon drove his family to move to Meskanaw. Education took a back seat to putting food on the table.

Some of his earliest memories include watching his father and neighbours getting rail cars spotted and shovelling grain into them.

He recalled the creation of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in 1924 and the Canadian Wheat Board in 1935.

“I was old enough then to recognize that the price of grain was low in the fall, when Dad had to pay his bills and taxes, and in the spring, the price would go up. For folks who were able to hold their grain over the winter, they got a much better deal in the spring,” he said.

When the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation became the government in Saskatchewan in 1944, it formed the Department of Co-operation and Co-operative Development.

“For me, the challenge was to develop programs so that these guys with their Grade 8 educations could learn how to be effective directors of a co-operative,” he said.

The Western Co-operative College was soon established in Saskatoon and Chapman served as principal. He later became the member relations director with Federated Co-operatives Limited, where he trained directors and delegates.

The Association of Co-operative Educators, which was formed in 1964 with Chapman as its first president, remains in operation today.

Co-operatives continue to be organized from housing to day care to larger co-operatives like credit unions and marketing co-ops.

“The co-operative idea is if we have a problem, let’s set up our own organization to deal with this,” he said.

“I think there’s always going to be current kinds of situations that will lead to people forming co-operatives because the alternative is for them to either ask the government to do it for them, or else hire a joint stock company to do it for them.”

“When we had the (Saskatchewan Wheat Pool) for example, I think it was a tremendous mistake for the members to decide to move this into being a joint stock company because now they’re back to where they were in 1920,” he said.

“I’ve seen it come full circle.… One of these days, the farmers are going to say, I think this isn’t being done quite the way we’d like to see it done,” Chapman said, predicting the return of a grain co-op within a few decades.

“These guys who are marketing their grain are in business to make money for the shareholders and not to make money for the farmers, for the producers,” he said.

William DeKay – The Western Prodcuer

I Am The Co-op (Again) – Peter Rukavina

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:02:30 +0000

Once of the first things I did when I landed here in Charlottetown 19 years ago was to join Central Farmer’s Coop, which operated the cooperative grocery store on Queen Street. It was as much a political act as a practical one: I’d never had the opportunity to join a coop before, and I seized the opportunity when it presented itself. I was member number 8254.

I had an up and down relationship with the coop after that: I went to every Annual General meeting and was dismayed by fellow members referring to the coop in the third person (“when are you guys going to get better peas?” instead of “how can we get better peas?”). Dismayed enough that, after a rousing speech by Vance Bridges I stood up and commited to shopping only at the Coop for the next year (an announcement I made without consulting Catherine, primary buyer-of-groceries in our family; that didn’t go over well).

After the consolidation in the coop movement in Atlantic Canada, a perhaps-necesary merger that saw local control lessen and Coop Atlantic control increase, I became disilluisioned, especially after I was invited to join the local coop council for the Queen Street store only to find, at the first meeting, that it was a council with no power or practical influence.

My inclinaction to shop at the Coop only lessened after the closure of the downtown store and the conversion of the Upper Queen St. to a “Coop Basics” format, which turned it into little more than a cheap food warehouse.

But if my wallet hasn’t been with the Coop, my heart’s been there, on the outskirts, waiting to return to the fold. I’ve been buying gasoline almost exclusively at the Coop Gas Bar on Walker Drive for the last year. And of course we’ve always taken Coop Taxi and bought our home heating oil from Coop Energy.

And so finally, inevitably, it was time for me to return to the grocery fold.

Thankfully, in recent years both the Queen Street and Walker Drive grocery stores have undergone substantial renovations, and while they might not be drenched in imported Belgian arugula oil like the Sobeys and Superstore mega-outlets, they’ve both got a good selection of products, and are pleasantly compact to shop in (it’s only 30 seconds from cabbage aisle to milk aisle and not wading through yards and yards of coffee makers and childrens clothing to get there!).

And so last Saturday after getting gasoline I went inside to the Walker Drive Coop, did our grocery shopping, and then signed up to become members again.

Rachel Morrison was our cashier, and she was friendly, welcoming and helpful; a credit to the store. It was so much more pleasant experience, on every level, to join and shop there than it has ever been to shop at the large box stores that I doubt I’ll ever do anything but.

Peter Rukavina is an occasional contributor to CBC Radio on technology issues, a prolific blogger on technology, travel and local issues, an occasional podcaster and video producer, and a burgeoning letterpress printer.

http://ruk.ca/content/i-am-co-op-again

admin — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:35:05 +0000

PEI Co-operative Council leads effort to acquire orignal bank notes for the Farmer’s Bank of Rustico

Louis Shea, Island Credit Unions;Edgar Arsenault, CDC; Maureen Gallant, PEICC; Judy MacDonald, Friends of the Farmer's Bank; Robert Henderson, Minister of Tourism and Culture

Thanks to the help of local co-operative organizations, the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico will be adding some important artifacts to its collection: two original bank notes that were used during the time of the Bank’s operation in the late 1800’s. These were accepted by the Island Government as legal tender and recognized by banks throughout the Maritimes. This is a very significant occasion as it marks the first original bank notes ever to be added to the Bank’s collection of artifacts.

The currency pieces are being acquired by the Friends of the Farmers’ Bank from owners Morgan & Susan Fisher and Laurel Fisher Lutz – the family recently found the bank notes in their late uncle’s army kit, which was used in the first world war. A number of partners, including the PEI Co-operative Council, le Conseil Developpement Cooperatif de l’I.P.E. and the PEI Credit Unions have put forth the funds to be able to purchase these pieces.

“As we celebrate 2012 as the International Year of the Co-operatives, it is only fitting that our organization contributes to this legacy project here at the Farmers’ Bank.” expressed Maureen Gallant, President of the Prince Edward Island Co-operative Council. “It is under the same business model of social and economic growth that we operate from today. From Tignish to Souris and almost every community in between, co-operatives have made a difference and continue to play an important role in the ongoing development in almost every facet of everyday life on the Island. I know my counterparts at le Conseil Developpement Cooperatif de l’I.P.E. and the Credit Unions of Prince Edward Island will agree.”

A provincially and nationally designated heritage place, the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico is an important monument of PEI architecture as well as a symbol of Acadian survival. The Bank operated from 1864 to 1894 and provided farmers with loans at reasonable rates of interest. As 2012 is celebrated as the International Year of the Cooperatives, it is important to note that the Farmers’ Bank was an important link in the establishment of ‘Les Caisses populaires’ in Quebec and a precursor to the ‘Credit Union Movement’ in the rest of Canada. In 2011 the Bank had over 5,000 visitors enjoy activities at the heritage site. The Bank is open to the public and hosts cultural and community lectures, exhibitions, and events. It also houses an extensive collection of historical artifacts relating to Acadian culture, the community of Rustico and information about its role in Canada’s economic development.

To learn more about the significance of the bank notes, or to support the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico, the public can contact the Bank at: (902) 963-3168, info@farmersbank.ca or www.farmersbank.ca. The Farmers’ Bank of Rustico and Doucet House are located on the Church Road, Route 243 North, adjacent to St. Augustine’s Church in Rustico, PEI.

The Guardian, August 10, 2012 – “Brother and Sister Discover Historical Banks Notes…”

Eco-Smoothies – A Colonel Grey Co-operative

Smooth new product at Colonel Gray

When the lunch bell rang Monday at noon at Colonel Gray High School, students quickly filled the hallway to check out a smooth new business venture.

Eco-smoothie is part of a P.E.I. Co-op Council Youth Co-operative project for Grade 12 economic students.

The “eco” comes from being a part of the economics curriculum, but also because the smoothies are ecologically friendly and affordable.

The Prince Edward Island Co-operative Council (PEICO) was pleased with the progress made in such a short period of time on the pilot program launched two-weeks ago at the high school in Charlottetown. As part of its mandate to celebrate the International Year of Co-operatives, the PEICO had been exploring various options in engaging youth and raising awareness of the co-operative sector and business principles among today’s young people.

“The idea was to attempt to create something that could potentially be an ongoing learning experience with practical elements based on a co-operative model,” said Todd MacEwen, the communications director of PEICO.

Alex Timmons, left, and Robyn MacMillan, students at Colonel Gray High School, help sell Eco-smoothies as part of a economics class project.

The Grade 12 economics class was presented with the guidelines of co-op formation and some in-class sessions about functions of a co-operative. The students then took the idea from there. They appointed a board of directors who were given tasks to create committees who worked on areas such as research and development, advertising, promotions and finances.

The economic students put together a few trial runs of the smoothies to see which flavours would be most popular.

The project was run entirely by the students, with a little bit of help from their economics teacher, Kevin MacLeod.

“To enhance the curriculum in economics 621A, we introduced this project-based learning experience for the 34 students involved to form a co-operative. We had to establish a bank account and we had some guest speakers come in to talk about advantages of the co-op, and as a business organization,” MacLeod said as students passed by drinking their chocolate and berry Eco-smoothies.

Grade 12 student John Rix was appointed president of the board of directors and helped draft the policies that he hopes will act as a legacy for the next group of students who will attend the school in September.

“What better way to learn about macro-economics then to open your own business? So I guess it took over the course, it was our biggest project,” said Rix.

“It teaches a lot of fundamentals to opening your own business and it’s actually not as easy as you think it is. We went into this thinking it would be really easy but there were a few bumps in the road, like waiting for a health inspector,” Rix said.

Among the policies developed by the ECO-Smoothies Co-op, striving to attain and maintain all aspects of being “green” was a major component of the business. The students purchased locally and from other co-operatives to satisfy their business needs whenever possible.

To achieve those goals, compostable cups and lids had been sourced from Samuel’s Coffee House in Summerside. Dairy products and fruit came from ADL and the Walker Drive retail Co-op.

MacLeod said every economics student earn a portion of the profit through a $10 membership.

“A portion will also go to the business because we hope to bring this back next year,” he said.

Rix said the students wanted to put their portions of the sales towards next year’s business or towards the safe grad program.

“A highlight of the project was definitely seeing how much money we were going to make on the first day. We didn’t think we would make that much, we made $103.”

MacEwen said the students accomplished their goals and it was very impressive to follow.

“The idea of being presented with a business model and applying those ideas in a practical fashion is not only a great reinforcement, but hopefully something a lot of the students can draw upon in the future,” he said.

Three flavours of Eco-smoothies are on sale for $2.50 cents each and will be available for the remainder of the school year.

Building Stronger Communities

admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:20:28 +0000

UN declares 2012 the year of the co-operative movement; plans in place to celebrate across the province

The Guardian April 3, 2012

Public awareness, strengthening relationships with government, engaging youth and leaving a legacy are the goals for the co-op movement on P.E.I. this year.

Those goals have been set because in December 2009, the United Nations declared that 2012 would be recognized as the International Year of Co-operatives.

Todd MacEwen, communications officer with the P.E.I. Co-op Council, says co-operatives and the co-operative business model have been an integral component of social and economic growth the world over for almost two centuries.

Its beginnings can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the late 1700s, firmly entrenching itself within the public realm in 1844 when a group of weavers in Rochdale, England, sought to better their lives.

Their goals included setting up their own store for the sale of food and clothing, buying homes and land for members and creating jobs in manufacturing and agriculture. In less than 20 years, the society, known as the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, had seen its membership grow from 40 to 4,000 and had expanded to include grain and cotton mills, a health and burial society, libraries and university courses and a building society, which was an early precursor to today’s credit unions.

The Rochdale group was now also operating as a wholesaler for other co-operatives that begin to appear in the region and eventually settlers would bring the principles that the society operated under to Canada.

In P.E.I., the beginning of the co-operative movement is said to have started with the Farmers’ Bank of Rustico, formed in 1864.

Rev. Georges-Antoine Belcourt, a parish priest in the area, noted that Acadian farmers in the area had little land, almost no money and education.

“In their desire to better their lives and community, they ended up creating what may have been the first people’s bank in North America and certainly the beginning of the credit union system in Canada,’’ McEwen said.

For the next 150 years, the co-operative movement would continue to gain ground in the province, advancing the cause and strengthening communities and their people like nothing had before.

In the 1920s, fishermen in Tignish took matters into their own hands when they formed the first fisherman-owned company and the first fisherman’s union in Canada. Similar ventures started occurring in other communities across the Island and with the guidance of a number of strong willed individuals such as Moses Coady and Jimmy Thompkins the co-operative spirit was sweeping through Atlantic Canada.

On P.E.I., one of the guiding lights of the movement was Dr. John Croteau.

“He tirelessly travelled from one end of the province to the other promoting the co-operative model, taking time to speak to anyone in any community who wanted to learn more,’’ MacEwen said.

Although endeavours on P.E.I. were largely in the fields of agriculture and fishing, housing and education were always in the forefront of the minds of co-operative leaders as they strived to make sure that members had homes for themselves and their families, that their children had the opportunity to learn that they had sometimes been denied and that older individuals were taught that it was never too late to learn.

The co-operative model went through ebbs and flows over the years, expanding into new fields and industries. Long-running co-ops were established for housing and health, education and the environment, arts and business.

Most cities and communities in the province are home to at least a credit union and a co-operative store and while those institutions have grown significantly in the last 30 years, the principles behind them have remained the same. People who frequent these businesses are viewed as members in equal standing.

Today, there are more than 100 businesses and organizations that operate in P.E.I. as a co-op. There are currently more than 1,100 Islanders employed within the co-operative sector and the total combined number of memberships is more than 80,000 or almost 60 per cent of the province’s population.

Sales and assets, including the credit unions, is more than $700 million.

Island co-operatives celebrate a year of their own

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:39:15 +0000

Co-ops are a great example of Islanders working together to accomplish a common goal, says P.E.I. Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Henderson.

Henderson was speaking Thursday at the International Year of Co-operatives kick-off ceremony in Charlottetown.

The Prince Edward Island Co-operative Council and Le Conseil de developpement cooperatif de l’I.-P.-E. met at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel Thursday for the ceremony.

Henderson, as well as Philip Brown, representing Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue, signed an official proclamation declaring 2012 International Year of Co-operatives. The proclamation was first announced by the United Nations in 2009.

The social gathering attracted approximately 60 people.

Henderson said he hopes a group of individuals follow the example of co-ops to make an organization for cruise ships entering P.E.I. waters.

“Co-ops present many opportunities for individuals to work together and organize to a common goal. One such opportunity I’d like to see would be the 50, 60, 70 cruise ships that come here and make an organization there.”

He also hopes to work together with co-ops well into the future, he said.

“I am confident co-ops on P.E.I. will remain strong for many, many years.”

Brown said Shea is no stranger to co-ops in her community, Tignish being the Island’s “co-op capital”.

“Co-ops provide a tremendous opportunity for development in underdeveloped parts of the world.”

PEICC President Maureen Gallant introduced the staff and directors of the council and said the council has many activities planned for the year, such as a documentary on the history of co-ops on P.E.I., a trade show and a golf tournament among other events.

“I think it’s very important to take advantage of every opportunity to promote the good that co-ops can do here on P.E.I.”

Todd MacEwen, communications officer for PEICC, said events similar to the one in Charlottetown were held in 20 cities around Canada.

“I have heard reports that Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared briefly at the ceremony in Halifax earlier. He was in town for the ship building cntract and so stopped by the celebration event for a bit,” he said.
The overall goal for PEICC will be support its existing members and gather new ones into the new year, he said.

“We want to assist our existing co-op members in any way we can. We hope we can make more business partners so we can all work together.”

Source: The Guardian

Island groups help launch International Year of Co-operatives

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:36:14 +0000

The two organizations responsible for co-operative development on the Island – the Prince Edward Island Co-operative Council (PEICC) and the Conseil de développement coopératif de l’Î.-P.-É. (CDC) – will officially launch the 2012 International Year of Co-operatives on P.E.I. today.

Todd MacEwen, communications officer with the PEI Co-operative Council, and Velma Robichaud, co-op development officer with the Conseil de développement coopératif de l’Î.-P.-É., are busy planning the official launch of the 2012 International Year of Co-operatives, to be held Jan. 12. Everyone is invited to the party!

All co-operators and Islanders are invited to attend the ceremony today beginning at 4 p.m. Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, which will include the signing of an official proclamation by a provincial minister, along with brief comments from the two host organizations and from federal and provincial representatives.

Well-known Island personalities Nils Ling and Raymond J. Arsenault will be acting as masters of ceremonies for the bilingual event, which will also feature a reception with free hors d’oeuvres, live music, door prizes and a cash bar.

“Please join us as we celebrate the International Year of Co-operatives on Thursday, Jan. 12th, and spread the message that co-operative enterprises build a better world,” say the two host organizations.

On Dec. 18, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring 2012 the UN International Year of Co-operatives. The resolution, entitled “Co-operatives in Social Development”, recognizes the diversity of the co-operative movement around the world and urges governments to take measures aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of co-operatives.

Launching ceremonies for the International Year of Co-operatives will be held in all Canadian provinces today. Many other countries are also planning countless events.

The PEICC and the CDC are in the midst of planning a number of events and activities to be held over the coming year to promote co-operatives throughout the province and to raise awareness of the value of the co-operative sector to the Island’s economy, culture and history.

Both organizations are proud to acknowledge that for well over a century, the co-op movement has been the economic backbone of many communities throughout P.E.I. It remains a strong and viable option for communities and sectors wanting to retain control of their own development and destiny.

Note: This article was authored by the organization and submitted to Island Edition as a press release. It has been lightly edited by Island Edition to fit style standards.