1:00pm to 2:00pm Eastern Time

As part of the Northern Sustainable Food System Study, FSC is hosting a web discussion (focus group) to get feedback on the tentative findings and policy recommendations developed through the Study thus far.  We want to know whether they reflect the experiences and perspectives of those working directly within food security and sustainable food systems in the North - do they reflect your priorities, did we miss something important, should we take something out? Join the conversation and let us know what you think!

Register for Web Discussion on Findings and Recommendations of Northern Sustainable Food Systems Study

To participate in this web discussion participants need to review the Research Ethics Information Letter (link is external) and Consent Form (link is external), which outline the nature of the Study and how the information collected will be used.  If you have any questions or concerns please contact Amanda (community at foodsecurecanad.org (link sends e-mail)). 

Anyone is welcome to participate, however we are especially interested in hearing from those living and working in the North (defined for the purposes of this Study as Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunatsiavut and Nunavik).  The focus of the conversation will be on the federal policy and program recommendations developed out of the Study.  A copy of these will be sent to those registered in advance and we ask that participants come prepared to discuss them.

You can also participate in the Study by sharing information about key Northern food systems assests and infrastructure in your community - click here to access the survey.

1:00pm to 2:00pm Eastern Time

In our third of five webinars, our speakers will introduce the steps involved in forming a cooperative including deciding on its legal entity, cooperative finances, and governance and decision making.

Register for Forming Cooperatives

Speakers:

Ro McIntyre, Red Emma’s Cafe and Bookstore
Ro has been a worker-owner at Red Emma’s Cafe & Bookstore for 4 years. Through their work at Red Emma’s they co-founded Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy (BRED), a local loan fund for worker-cooperative. BRED provides high touch technical assistance paired with non-extractive financing to help co-ops grow & thrive. Ro is currently the Educational Director at BRED and is happily spreading the good word of cooperatives in Maryland.

Annie Sullivan-Chin, A Bookkeeping Cooperative
Annie has been a worker-owner, bookkeeper, and consultant at A Bookkeeping Cooperative since 2013. She began her work with ABC as an intern with the Democracy At Work Network, helping ABC craft its cooperative bylaws and operations protocols. She is now a certified DAWN Peer Advisor, providing customized technical assistance to worker-owned and democratically-managed organizations throughout the country.

Facilitators:

Yvonne Yen Liu, Solidarity Research Center
Yvonne is the co-founder and research director of Solidarity Research Center, a worker self-directed nonprofit that advances solidarity economies. She serves on the board of the US Solidarity Economy Network and was named the 2018 Activist-in-Residence Fellow at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Parag Rajendra Khandhar, Asian American Solidarity Economies Project
Parag is a founding principal of Gilmore Khandhar, LLC, a law firm focused on legal, policy, and advocacy tools to advance economic justice, racial equity, and social transformation. He teaches at George Washington University Law School. Parag co-founded Baltimore Activating Solidarity Economies (BASE) and the Asian American Solidarity Economies Network (AASE).

In our last of five webinars, our speakers will discuss how to incubate cooperatives as a community-based organization or worker center.

Register for Incubating Cooperatives Webinar

Speakers:

• Lan Dinh, Vietlead
• Lolita Andrada Lledo, Pilipino Workers Center

Facilitators:

Yvonne Yen Liu, Solidarity Research Center
Yvonne is the co-founder and research director of Solidarity Research Center, a worker self-directed nonprofit that advances solidarity economies. She serves on the board of the US Solidarity Economy Network and was named the 2018 Activist-in-Residence Fellow at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Parag Rajendra Khandhar, Asian American Solidarity Economies Project
Parag is a founding principal of Gilmore Khandhar, LLC, a law firm focused on legal, policy, and advocacy tools to advance economic justice, racial equity, and social transformation. He teaches at George Washington University Law School. Parag co-founded Baltimore Activating Solidarity Economies (BASE) and the Asian American Solidarity Economies Network (AASE).

Is the cooperative a better firm structure? Is it more likely to fulfill the role of an enterprise in the market given its specific structure of ownership, modes of governance and organizational values? Is it more likely to meet the requirements of justice, such as protecting liberty, equality or efficiency in society?

The Chaire de Coopération Guy Bernier will host an international conference to deal with questions of ownership of the firm, governance and organizational values, and their implications for social justice, both from a normative and an empirical perspective. The conference will take place at the Université du Québec à Montréal, September 27-28, 2018.

More information on Market, Justice and the Cooperative as a Political Institution

The mainstream view among governance and management scholars is that the corporation, not the cooperative, is the most desirable firm structure. Yet, the literature does not provide much scope to deeper justifications for economic markets, what a just political-economic regime is, and to how this might lead one to preferring one firm structure over another. Although a portion of the political philosophy and social sciences literature has been debating about issues of social justice and market fairness, scant attention has been paid to the private organizations within the market and the implications of theories of justice for the structure of the firm. A common view in that literature, if such a view exists, is that a cooperative structure is more desirable because it embodies other organizational values, it is not only focused on profit maximization, and it offers a better protection against the unjust concentration of wealth, economic power, and political power.

Who should own the private organizations of the market? Investors, workers, consumers, or other groups? What ought to be the specific modes of governance of these organizations? What should their values be? These questions are likely to have important implications for social justice issues. Organizations in these markets are wealthy, powerful, and have an impact on the daily lives of a large number of people, namely because they employ many of them.