Committee studies co-ops' value as feds cut funding in International Year of Co-ops
by Samantha Bayard
Unlike other Canadian businesses, co-ops don’t need any help. That’s what Agriculture Minister Gary Ritz said in the House of Commons last May 18: “With some 9,000 co-ops, 18 million members and some net worth of $350 billion or $360 billion, I think co-ops have a great foundation to continue this work on their own.
Which was an odd way to answer a question about what support or exposure the government was planning to give Canadian co-operatives in the UN’s International Year of Co-ops, with the whole world invited to an International Summit on Co-operatives to be held at Quebec City Oct 8 – 11.
Liberal MP Maril Bélanger, who had asked the question, promptly found a way to strike a Special Committee on Co-operatives, which is preparing a report for when the House reconvenes.
“Some of Canada’s largest and most successful businesses are co-ops,” said Committee Chair Blake Richards, Conservative MP for Wild Rose, in an emailed response. “They’re active in practically every sector of the economy including agriculture, finance, manufacturing and social services. Certainly they are a key contributor to Canada’s economic growth.”
And yet, Bélanger’s Special Committee – with a mandate to study co-ops – is the the awkward position of having to file its report with the House before the Summit, which Bélanger called, “the single largest and significant event of the international year of cooperatives,” the http://www.2012intlsummit.coop/site/summit-info/hosts International Summit on Cooperatives, to be held in Quebec City October 8 – 11 2012.
“That I found it ludicrous and I still do,” he said.
Hélène LeBlanc, NDP MP for LaSalle-Émard and vice-chair of the committee, pointed out that valuable information will be presented at the conference – without which, any other study on co-ops will instantly be out of date.
There was not a private business that was prepared to build a store there. The same would apply to most of our rural communities.
“We would be receiving six fairly important research studies that are actually being done now and will be concluded before the summit,” concurred Bélanger. “They will be made public and will give a very clear and up to date picture of the situation of the cooperatives in Canada. I thought that it would be important to be able to reference that in the final report. [But] It looks as though we are going to be tabling a final report in September.”
LeBlanc suspects the government has other reasons for wanting to hurry the Special Committee’s study. “It seems they want to put under the rug the drastic cuts that they have made in the last budget that puts a big dent in helping the cooperative movement in Canada,” she said. “In this time and age where we are in economic instability and a coop has proven to a sustainable stable economic model, the Conservatives’ position is they want to disengage totally from helping the cooperatives.”
Small changes would provide a more level playing field. The logical first step would be to make Federal programs accessible to coops as well as business with more traditional business models. “Whenever there is a federal program, make sure coops can access it as well as a private sector enterprise. There are some sectors of industry that are doing much better than coops but yet they get breaks, and they get programs directed at them. All the coops are saying is make it fair. I agree 100 percent on that,” said Bélanger.
Bélanger pointed out that, when Main Street fails, co-ops can keep the heart of a community beating. He gave the example of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, in Quebec. A small town with about 1000 people was in the process of losing their grocery store, hardware store, and gas station. The people got together; they got support from another coop, La Coop Lédérée and 450 families subscribed, and now they own their essential services.
“They were losing their proximity services and now they have them,” he said, “and that is the power of cooperatives. There was not a private business that was prepared to build a store there. The same would apply to most of our rural communities. We cannot underestimate the power of cooperatives for our communities — whether it is northern, remote, and rural.”
Given the Harper government’s cuts to vital co-op development supports – both human and financial – “I am not too optimistic about what will come out of the Committee,” said Hazel Corcoran, Executive Director of the Canadian Workers Co-op Federation. “However they may surprise us, and do something in support of co-op development.”
About Samantha Bayard
Samantha Bayard is a young journalist living and working out of Ottawa. She has been a contributor to the Straight Goods News family of websites since 2009. She is an avid cyclist and lover of animals.
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