Movement moves towards bilingual national presence.
from the Canadian Co-operative Association
Parliament has moved ahead with its commitment to create a special committee on co-operatives, which will hold a consultation meeting this summer.
The committee was formed after MPs from all parties supported a motion by Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger on May 30.
The committee, chaired by Alberta MP Blake Richards, is made up of seven Conservative and four NDP Members of Parliament, in addition to Bélanger. The committee is planning to consult on such issues as the strategic role of co-operatives in the Canadian economy, policies for strengthening Canadian co-operatives, capitalization and whether federal legislation governing co-operatives requires updating. The committee will also ask co-op sector representatives what tools the government can use to provide greater support for Canadian co-ops.
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The Parliamentary committee will also ask co-op sector representatives what tools the government provide for greater support for Canadian co-ops. |
A consultation meeting will take place in Ottawa on July 10. While the committee had hoped to travel to several other cities to hold consultations, Parliament failed to give the required unanimous consent to consider a motion to authorize the committee's travel budget.
Meanwhile, Canada's co-operative movement has moved forward toward the creation of a pan-Canadian, bilingual association representing all Canadian co-operatives, credit unions and mutuals.
Delegates to the Canadian Co-operative Association's (CCA) Annual General Meeting in Montreal voted overwhelmingly to continue their unity discussions with the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité(CCCM).
Described by leaders of both organizations as "historic", the decision paves the way for the appointment of a transition committee to work out the details of the creation of the new association. A full proposal will have to be approved by the CCA membership.
While the discussions had been ongoing for some time, there was a major breakthrough in May when CCCM agreed that CCA's international development activities could be included within the new association's mandate. The resolution adopted by the CCA members in Montreal specifically calls for the creation of a structure to accommodate CCA's international development activities within the pan-Canadian organization.
The unity resolution was moved by Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators. Bardswick said she was excited by the prospect of a single national association that would be "a truly national strong voice" for co-operatives.
One of the more moving speeches at the meeting was made by Dave Sitaram, an Ontario credit union leader and a former president of CCA. He said the coming together of all co-operators "from coast to coast to coast will build a movement that our kids and our grandchildren can be proud of."
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