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In this issue:
Canadian CED Network News
- Iqualit and Yellowknife Celebrate the International Year of Co-ops
- Nunavut Government Announced Makimaniq Plan to Address Poverty
- Arctic Co-ops Launched New Art Marketing Website
- New Research - If Not Now, When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada
- The Dollars and Sense of Poverty - New Report
- Faith-Based Organizations Engaged in the Social Economy
- Meetings with the Regional Development Co-operatives in Eastern Canada
- 30 Social Enterprises Worth Following
- Co-operative Conference Calling for Proposals
- CED Book Club: The Resilience Imperative
CED Job Postings
Canadian CED Network News
Women’s Economic Empowerment Webinar
CCEDNet's International Committee is hosting a free webinar session, Women’s Economic Empowerment: Building Strong Economies and Communities in Canada and Internationally, on January 31.
Around the world, gender equality is key to economic development. This session will look at how women’s economic empowerment in Canada and internationally is contributing to stronger economies and communities, and what Canadians can do both here and abroad. Registration closes on January 29.
>> Read more
Meet our Members
The Northern Alberta Development Council advances the promise of Alberta's North. NADC’s mandate is to help the region’s 150 communities and 350,000 people realize their potential and strengthen their diverse economies. The Council is tasked with producing quality regional development information, supporting education and skills enhancement programs and building strategic partnerships.
The Nunavut Economic Developers Association (NEDA) is an organization of economic development officers and other individuals working in the field of economic development in Nunavut. NEDA exists to enhance the economic development profession in Nunavut by implementing or supporting initiatives aimed at meeting the personal and professional development needs of its members in the areas of: information, education, training, operational needs, and the exchange of knowledge and experience.
Northern CED News
Iqualit and Yellowknife Celebrate International Year of Co-ops
Co-operative actors and supporters in Iqualit and Yellowknife joined thousands of people across Canada in celebrating the official launch of the UN International Year of Co-operatives on January 12. The event in Yellowknife, held at Northern Images Gallery, included a speech from Arctic Co-ops Ltd. president, Bill Lyall. Meanwhile, in Iqualit, ACL's vice-president Nicole Sikma and CEO Andy Morrison spoke to the crowd about the important presence of co-operatives in Canada's North.
It is estimated that 1 billion people are involved in co-operatives worldwide, including 20,000 people in Northern Canada.
>> Read more
Nunavut Government Announced Makimaniq Plan to Address Poverty
In November, Premier Aariak announced Nunavut's new Makimaniq Plan: A Shared Approach to Poverty Reduction. The plan outlines a common agenda for poverty reduction in Nunavut, developed by the forty five participants in the territory’s first poverty summit. Nunavut will be the fifth provincial/territorial jurisdiction in Canada to address poverty reduction through a legislated action plan. The announcement also included commitments to revise the public housing rent scale, establish a culturally-relevant pilot program for addictions treatment, and convene and participate in a Nunavut Food Security Coalition.
>> Read more
Arctic Co-ops Launches New Art Marketing Website
Northern Images, the art marketing arm of Arctic Co-operatives Limited, has revamped its website to make it easier for potential customers to view and purchase Inuit and Dené art. Northern Images, one of the largest retailers of Inuit and Dené arts and crafts, markets Inuit and Dené arts and crafts in galleries located in Churchill, Inuvik and Yellowknife. These galleries showcase authentic sculptures, prints, books, jewellery, giftware, northern apparel and hand-made crafts.
>> Visit www.northernimages.ca
(Source: CCA News Brief)
New Research - If Not Now, When? Addressing the Ongoing Inuit Housing Crisis in Canada
The challenges presented by inadequate housing will have long-term effects on today’s youngest Inuit generation, depriving them of their ability to participate fully in the future of their Inuit homelands and Canada, according to a report recently released by Inuit Tuttarvingat of the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Findings from the study include:
- Crowding and reduced ventilation contributes to very high rates of respiratory infections among Inuit children.
- Crowded housing is linked to failing grades and to behavior problems among children.
- Inuit have the highest tuberculosis rate in Canada
- Crowded living conditions force Inuit to larger centres and might even prevent a return to home after receiving health care, therefore contributing to homelessness in urban areas
>> Read more
(Source: The homelesshub.ca)
Fundaments of CED Course
The Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) and University of Waterloo (UW) are hosting an education opportunity on the Fundamentals of Community Economic Development in Whitehorse in February. The course is being held February 5-10 at the Westmark Hotel. Key topics that will be covered include:
- The Roles of the EDO
- Northern Economic Trends and Context
- Models for CED
- Marketing Your Community
- First Nations Consultation and Opportunity Identification
- Business Development Issues
- Strategic Economic Planning
>> Read more
CED Tool
Cutting Through the Fog - Why is it so hard to make sense of poverty measures?
The paper is about the challenges facing citizens when presented with statistics on poverty, and emphasizes the need to question the implications and assumptions underlying various poverty measures. The authors look at how we measure poverty levels, the working poor, child benefits, unemployment and Employment Insurance. They provide some basic information about what measures are used and illustrate how different approaches to the data can colour social realities. As Stapleton and Shillington write, “... if we don’t make sense of poverty measures, we will limit our ability as a society to make good decisions about poverty and related issues.“ We hope this short paper will stimulate thoughtful debate about poverty and its measurement among Canadians.
>> Read more
National CED News
The Dollars and Sense of Poverty - New Report
The report, created by the National Council of Welfare, shows the high dollar cost we are currently paying for the consequences of poverty. The report provides insights into why the costs of poverty are far higher than many people realize, why poverty has persisted in wealthy countries despite many policies and programs for people living in poverty, and many other important issues. It examines why investments to end poverty make better economic sense, and it shows how ending poverty would save money and improve wellbeing for everyone. It concludes with recommendations for the way forward.
>> Read more
Faith-Based Organizations Engaged in the Social Economy: The Example of Catholic Religious Orders and the Mennonite
New research by Bob McKeon examines the contributions that faith-based organizations (FBOs) are making to the social economy sector in Canada. This study is the second BALTA research project looking at the role of FBOs in the social economy. It looks specifically at the approaches of Catholic religious orders and Mennonite community outreach organizations in their social economy projects.
For more information, contact Bob McKeon at rmckeon@shaw.ca
Meetings with the Regional Development Co-operatives in Eastern Canada
Quebec’s record of co-operative development success is looked to as a model in Canada and throughout the world. A key piece to Quebec’s co-operative development strategy is a system of Regional Development Co-operatives (RDCs), which help co-operative businesses through development steps. This summer, representatives from western provinces went on an exploratory study mission to find out more about how the RDCs in Quebec and New Brunswick work, and to see if the RDC model could be adapted to work in western Canada.
>> Read more
(Source: Co-operative Spotlight, November)
30 Social Enterprises Worth Following - A Belated Holiday Gift
The Trico Charitable Foundation has compiled a year-end round up of all the social enterprises they tweeted about in 2011. The list of 30 social enterprises are located from coast to coast and are involved in diverse market activities including providing affordable psychology services, a movie theatre, textiles, and the food industry.
>> Read more
Cooperative Conference Calling for Proposals
Organizers of the Cooperating for Change Conference, which will be held in Montreal in June 2012, are calling for proposals for papers, panels, and roundtable discussions. The goal of the conference is to bring together the overlapping communities of researchers, educators, practitioners and policy makers from academia, professional associations, civil society organizations and government to share knowledge and engage in discussion about policy proposals and strategic directions for the sector, both in Canada and internationally.
>> Read more
CED Book Club: The Resilience Imperative - Co-operative Transitions to a Steady State Economy
The Resilience Imperative will be published in June 2012 by New Society Publishers. The book is co-written by BALTA reseachers, Mike Lewis and Pat Conaty, and draws from BALTA research related to sustainability, economic relocalization and transition to a steady state economy characterized by much lower greenhouse gas emissions. See attached for further information and the book's table of contents. The book will sell for $26.95, but by pre-ordering now, people can get a 20% discount.
>> Read more
Job Postings
For the latest CED postings visit the National and Regional job pages on CCEDNet's website
National | AB | SK | MB |
Positions to post? Send them to breimer@ccednet-rcdec.ca