Please contact us with your comments, or if you would like to be added or removed from our mailing list by emailing: mthompson@ccednet-rcdec.ca.
In this issue
- Change of Ontario Regional Coordinator
- Register for Canada's Premier Annual CED Conference!
- News from the Region
- The Northern Ontario CED Network
- National News
- CED Tools and Resources
- Membership
- Regional and National Events
- Jobs and Other Opportunities
- Other News
- Future Newsletters
Abraham Tounkara has left his position as Ontario Regional Coordinator in order to take a year-long interchange professional development placement with FedNor that started March 2nd. Abraham has been with CCEDNet for over two years and has done great work to serve and grow Ontario's membership. We will miss Abraham during this time of absence. He invites anyone who wishes to reach him in the future to write to him at abrahamtounkara@hotmail.com. 
Stepping into the Regional Coordinator position while Abraham is away is Matthew Thompson, previously the Ontario Regional Program Assistant as well as the Research Program Assistant for the Canadian CED Network's involvement in the Canadian Social Economy Hub. Matthew's background in CED was fostered through participation in Canada World Youth and was further developed through Canada's first leadership undergraduate program, Renaissance College at the University of New Brunswick. Originating from Timmins Ontario he has strong interests in sustainable communities in Northern Ontario and is committed to continuing support of the Canadian CED Network's members throughout Ontario.
June 3-5, 2009, University of Winnipeg
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Registration is now open; visit our website for regular updates! The last date for Early Bird registration is April 24. Join 500 participants from across Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba for three days of learning, networking and celebration!
HIGHLIGHTS:
Over 45 workshops and action sessions related to Building Fairer & Stronger Local Economies, Tackling Poverty & Homelessness, and Investing in Sustainable Communities.
An engaging program including mobile workshops, inspiring keynote speakers and innovative plenary sessions.
• A colourful Marketplace featuring interesting cultural and social enterprise products
• Unique cultural experiences, celebratory networking, social activities and the Canadian CED Network's 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner
• A special focus for 2009 will be Indigenous models of CED
The 2009 National CED Conference is hosted by the Canadian CED Network in partnership with Ka Ni Kanichihk and SEED Winnipeg.
1. Le Chantier's Knowledge Transfer Workshops
Le Chantier de l'économie sociale has developed a workshop series to share with other provinces the expertise that Quebec has developed in the realm of social enterprise funding. These workshops have taken place in throughout the country and in March sessions were held in Ottawa and Toronto. CCEDNet Program Director, Paul Chamberlain, and Ontario Regional Coordinator, Matthew Thompson, attended the sessions in Toronto at the Centre for Social Innovation and were encouraged by the level of support and analysis in Quebec for social enterprise development. Equally exciting was the great interest that Ontarians showed to learn from Quebec's example - noticeable in the over-registered event. The classroom was completely full and those who attended were keen to share with colleagues the models that they had learnt for analyzing a social enterprise's social and economic potential.
2. Presentation to United Way of Peel's Social Enterprise Enabling Group
On March 3rd CCEDNet's Program Director and Ontario Regional Coordinator were invited by the United Way of Peel to make a short presentation to their Social Enterprise Enabling Group on what is happening in Ontario around social enterprise development and support. This group showed great excitement and interest in becoming more involved in funding social enterprise and were encouraged by the level of activity in the province around this burgeoning organizational model.
3. The Ontario Social Economy Roundtable
The Canadian CED Network -Ontario, on behalf of the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable (OSER), is the lead organization in a collaborative proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This proposal grows out of the work of the roundtable over the last year and seeks to build the social economy in Ontario by: improving connections among people, groups and organizations working in the Social Economy; supporting improvements to the regulatory environment; maximizing resources; increasing the public's understanding and awareness of the social economy and social enterprise.
OSER has received $170,500 over two years, as a result of the proposal, to develop the organization through a strategic consultation process. OSER will develop a strategic plan to fulfill these goals and develop a social enterprise framework that includes a brief and an evidence base on the impact of social enterprise. Regional events around the province, culminating in a provincial summit, will be used to ensure broad and diverse input in the development of these tools that will be effective in making the case for social enterprise.
OSER is a broad table that can unite and coordinate those that are interested in building an enabling social economy in Ontario. While the members share a focus on policy and capacity building, and are dedicated to a broad and inclusive mandate, the proposed strategic planning process will ensure that OSER represents enablers, including practitioners, funders, policy makers and researchers, and supports the potential and promise of social enterprise to both creatively and pragmatically address intractable social and economic issues.
The proposed project is one of several initiatives underway that represent the common interests of social entrepreneurs, and together have the potential to affect the policy environment and support capacity building and prosperity in Ontario. OSER will work in a collaborative and coordinated approach with organizations such as the Ontario Non-Profit Network (ONN) and Causeway who are undertaking complementary work that, together with the work of OSER, has the potential to have a significant impact on social enterprise and the social economy in Ontario.
Our three proposal collaborative partners are the Ontario Cooperative Association (OnCo-op), the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) and Économie solidaire de l'Ontario (ESO). The United Way of Greater Toronto's Toronto Enterprise Fund along with MaRS Discovery District's Social Innovation Generation (SiG @MaRS), the Social Economy Centre at the University of Toronto, and the Ontario Non-profit Network (ONN) are key collaborative participants working as part of OSER
The Northern Ontario CED Network
1. Meeting in Sault Ste. Marie
On March 18th staff of the Canadian CED Network met with a small group of Social Economy practitioners and researchers from Northern Ontario in Sault Ste. Marie. Included in this group were representatives from the Food Security Research Network, NORDIK (Algoma University), GEODE, KNet, and PARO. The objective of this meeting was to establish an understanding of shared priorities and to communicate the work that everyone has been and continues to be focused upon. The group around the table identified themselves as forming the beginning of a Northern Ontario CED Network, with much work needed to bring others around the table.
The identified priorities within this group were categorized within three broad categories. The predominant concern was for the environment and the management of natural resources. Priority was also placed on youth engagement and succession planning - particularly within rural communities. Finally, job creation through social enterprise development - using the coop model - was seen as an essential device for creating community ownership and opportunities for youth. Ultimately, strong interest was voiced for the development of a northern vision - a unified image for development in the north to counter the implementation of development ideas from outside that do not benefit northern communities.
As an immediate course of action for further networking and information sharing CCEDNet is looking to establish funding for a series of 6 videoconferences that will engage participants on subjects affecting the lives of Northern Ontarians, the first of which will be on forest tenure.
Some of the participants in SSM - from left Paul Chamberlain (CCEDNet), Rosalind Lockyer (PARO), Matthew Thompson (CCEDNet), Sheila Gruner (Algoma University), Jose Reyes (ASOPRICOR), Gayle Broad (Algoma University), and Alan Asher (GEODE)
2. Russ Christianson Speaks at Algoma University
Russ Christianson visited Algoma University to speak to students about growing concerns around food security and how collective action can help address these concerns. He provided an introduction to cooperatives for the students within the context of community economic development and encouraged students to use cooperative structures for business development. Russ was the General Manager of the Ontario Federation of Food Co-ops and Clubs in the mid-1980s and led the organization's re-positioning to become Ontario's premier organic food distributor. In the late 1980s, he worked with Kagiwiosa Manomin, an Ojibway worker co-op, to develop Canada's first domestic fair trade product - certified organic wild rice. Together with Mary Lou Morgan (a founder of the Big Carrot), Russ founded Origins Co-operative, Canada's first federally incorporated worker co-op, creating a national label for organic foods. A video of this event will be available soon on the NORDIK website.
National News
1. Bill C-4: Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act
On January 28 the federal government tabled Bill C-4 in the House of Commons. This bill seeks to repeal the Canada Corporations Act, replacing it with a new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act for federally incorporated nonprofits and making share corporations subject to the Canada Business Corporations Act. Bill C-4 is at the committee report stage and so has not been approved and may be subject to further changes. Federal nonprofit legislation is overdue to be updated as it has not been changed for over 50 years. To read the Bill click here. The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) and Imagine Canada have submitted briefs to the National Task Force examining proposed changes for the Bill. These responses, which CCEDNet support, are located on their respective websites: ONN and Imagine Canada.
2. Legislative Innovations and Social Enterprise: Structural Lessons for Canada
The economic events of 2008 have provided reason for structural change within the Canadian economy. Fundamental economic change underscores the urgency of the need to adapt and redesign the ways in which our economy and communities function. Social enterprise is a rising alternative to the conventional business model that should be brought to the forefront of this redesign. New legislation enabling the creation of a legal structure specifically for the purpose of social enterprise would allow it to better flourish. The Fraser Institute for Social Enterprise has developed a paper advocating for the adoption of this kind of legislative with input from a national advisory group on which CCEDNet sat. To view a copy of this report click here.
CED Tools & Resources
1. Youth in Charge Toolkit to be Published Soon!
The Canadian Community Economic Development Network, partnered with Pacific Community Resource Society, has worked with youth to develop local community action plans. The action plans address the human resource needs of employers and seek to find solutions to youth employment issues in urban settings.
Youth (aged 15-30 years old) have worked together with community mentors to assess their communities and the issues related to the needs of employers. They have created workshops to bring together stakeholders, business owners and other makers of change to find solutions to these challenges.
Each community has different needs and challenges as did the communities involved in these projects, and so the process looked slightly different in each community. The Communities delivered their project through small brainstorming sessions, focus groups, strategic meetings and two large planning sessions involving broader community members. The planning sessions brought together youth, businesses, community stakeholders and other members of the community. Through the planning sessions communities have identified issues affecting the human resource needs of employers and have identified opportunities to meet these needs through a community economic development approach.
This resource manual compiles materials and tools from CCEDNet and our community Partners that have been created throughout this project to help you and your organization successfully deliver youth focused and youth led projects in your community. Through the tools found in this toolkit the communities were able to prepare themselves and learn from the challenges to make change in their communities.
To view this resource on-line, click here. To download the full document, click here.
2. Social Economy Stories
The Canadian CED Network has published 7 Social Economy stories designed to provide practitioners' perspectives on what the Social Economy means to them and their communities. These stories capture the human face of the sector and demonstrate the Social Economy as a real movement that is addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges of today in integrative and innovative ways.
These stories were developed by the Canadian CED Network as a partner in the Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub), with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. To download these stories and to learn more about CSEHub and the Canadian CED Network's involvement in this community university research alliance click here!
3. Canadian Social Policy in the 2000s: Bringing Place In
There is growing recognition that Canada's major public policy challenges play out in local spaces. Analysts of social inclusion encounter the many barriers that individuals and families face living in distressed neighbourhoods. Rural areas and smaller centres confront another set of risks in managing change with declining, often aging populations. The Canadian Policy Research Networks has recently published a report exploring the departures in Canadian public policy toward more place-based approaches to social development. To read this report, visit their website by clicking here.
Membership
1. Last Chance to be a CCEDNet Member in Good Standing!
If you were a member of CCEDNet in 2008, we hope you will renew your membership and continue to support our work to strengthen Canadian communities. To be a member in good standing, so that you may run and/or vote in the upcoming CCEDNet elections, you need to update your membership by April 30th.
In addition to being part of a national voice and platform for collective action, the Network continues to offer opportunities for peer learning, collaboration, regional and national networking, resources, and a space for members to organize around specific issues. Regional and national newsletters keep you informed of these and other activities, and our website offers new opportunities for online information sharing. As well, with your membership you will receive a subscription to the Making Waves magazine and discounts, when available, to our learning events.
Currently you can renew your membership online! Click here!
2. 2009 Call for CCEDNet Board Nominations
Nominations are currently being sought for three positions on CCEDNet's Board of Directors. Anyone with energy and a vision for the CED movement in Canada is encouraged to submit a candidacy. The deadline to receive nominations is April 22, 2009. This year we are seeking nominations for three at-large directors who will be elected to a three-year term by the members. For more information, click here.
3. 2009 Call for Resolutions
All resolutions must be submitted to Bianca Mathieu at bmathieu@ccednet-rcdec.ca no later than April 22, at 4:00 p.m. (PST). Late resolutions will be held over to the AGM in the following year.
All sponsors of resolutions will be contacted no later than May 13. At that time, sponsors will be notified that their resolution will be presented at the AGM or that the resolution has been rejected because it does not fulfill the requirements.
For more information: 2009 Call for Resolutions.
Regional and National Events
1. Tamarack's Telelearning Seminars
The Promise and Paradox of Community - April 22nd @ noon Talk with acclaimed speaker and writer, Margaret Wheatley, widely credited for giving the world a whole new way of thinking about organizations with her revolutionary application of the natural sciences to business management.
Poverty Compendium: A Tool for Communities - April 30th @ noon
Talk with Garry Loewen, former CCEDNet Executive Director, about the Poverty Compendium, an overview of the strategies that groups in North America use to reduce poverty. This new resource discusses the different ways that poverty is understood and how different understandings affect the selection of strategies. It also categorizes and describes the individual strategies and describes frameworks and processes that groups have used to move toward greater levels of comprehensiveness.
Visit http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g1_events.html for more information and to register.
2. Purchasing Our Futures
In the afternoon, April 23rd, the Social Economy Centre of the University of Toronto will be hosting two panels on social purchasing and local community investment which will be followed by open discussion. This event requires registration (visit http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca to register) but is free to the public. For those unable to attend in person, the afternoon will be webcast for which there are instructions on the website listed above.
The first panel will be on Community-First Purchasing (1:15 - 3:15 pm), which will generate discussion about sourcing sustainable products, the ethics of local purchasing, advocating for social purchasing and developing ethical purchasing policies. Don Wells, Director of Labour Studies, McMaster University, will moderate and panellists include
• Bill Barrett, Director and Marketing Manager, Planet Coffee Bean
• George Mitges, General Manager, Vineland Co-operative
• Anthony Muhitch, Teacher, York Catholic School District
• Susan LaRosa, Director of Education, York District Catholic School Board
The second panel will be on Governments and Local Economic and Social Change (3:30 - 5:30 pm) and will address governments' role in facilitating and developing ethical policies for social purchasing. Topics to be covered are the impact of purchasing policies on community development, the environmental crisis and social purchasing and challenges that governments face in developing ethical purchasing policies. The panel is moderated by J.J. McMurtry, Coordinator, Business and Society Program, York University and panellists include:
• Matthew Thompson, Ontario Regional Coordinator, CCEDNet
• Judith Lipp, Executive Director, Toronto Renewable Energy Coop
• The Honourable Ted McMeekin, Minister of Government Services, Province of Ontario
3. Community Futures National Event
The Canadian CED Network's Ontario region is excited that Community Futures/Community Business Development Corporations across Canada will be hosting their national event at Blue Mountain Resorts near Collingwood, Ontario from May 28th-30th. More than 800 community board members and professional staff from the 269 (CFDC/CBDC) across Canada will gather to explore ideas and share insights on community economic development. This is a great opportunity for rural communities in Ontario to be able to host this event. Visit http://www.cfnationalevent.ca/ for more details
4. 2nd Annual ANSER Conference
From May 27th-29th the Association for Nonprofit and Social Economy Research (ANSER) will bring together leading academic researchers, practitioners, consultants, policymakers and community organizations from Canada and internationally to discuss current and emergent issues, debates and challenges in the fields of civil society, Social Economy and nonprofit research and practice.
Delegates should register through the website of the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences (www.fedcan.ca/congress2009). The Congress website also includes information on accommodation, discounts for travel, and local information.
5. International Student Workshop on the Social Economy
Directly preceding the ANSER conference on May 26th is the International Student Workshop on the Social Economy which aims to network students, academics and practitioners, and offer participants a better understanding of issues and research that is being conducted around the Social Economy. The conference will include twelve Social Economy focused student presentations, in both French and English. Through this networking of ideas and knowledge, the Social Economy Student Network endeavors to strengthen the Social Economy among students in Canada.
There is no charge to register for this one-day interdisciplinary conference. Deadline for registration is May 1st 2009. To register for this conference please visit the following link
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OqBg_2bUOcfTFhNYiuHjB_2beg_3d_3d
6. North American Indigenous Food Symposium
On June 4-6, the 3rd North American Indigenous Food Symposium (NAIFS 2009) will be held at Muskoday First Nation and Travelodge Hotel, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, presented by the Indigenous Peoples Program (IPP). The goal of this symposium is to assist indigenous communities in utilizing the knowledge gained through sustainable methods in order to support their environmental and traditional foods restoration activities. To implement this goal, the objectives will be to focus on the use, cultivation, harvesting, cooking, and eating of traditional indigenous foods to improve health and enhance tradition, as well as make a direct link between environmental, cultural, and mental health that will contribute to community healing and empowerment.
To learn how to register follow this link: http://www.ccde.usask.ca/ExtensionDivision/noncredit/Indig/09-NAIF.html.
Jobs and Other Opportunities
1. Social Enterprise Ontario - A New Network
There is a growing amount of activity and attention in Ontario around social enterprise. With this growth taking place, there is increasing need for those working in the field to connect, share knowledge, and build an enabling environment for the success of our enterprises and the sector as a whole. The Centre for Social Innovation, in partnership with the Ontario Nonprofit Network, the Social Enterprise Council, the Ontario Social Economy Roundtable and Économie solidaire de l'Ontario, has created Social Enterprise Ontario (SEO) to address these needs
SEO is a burgeoning network to connect social entrepreneurs, social enterprise staff, business leaders and social enterprise advocates and enthusiasts, so that we can:
• share and learn from each other and improve our likelihoods of success
• stay abreast of what is happening in the social enterprise space in Ontario
• work to create an enabling environment for social enterprise in Ontario
SEO is primarily a mailing list to enable practitioners and their supporters to connect and share information. We will also host occasional meetings to network, share ideas and take action. If you would like to be on this list, please visit the SEO site at http://www.socialenterpriseontario.ca/.
2. Social Enterprise Listserv Invitation
Are you interested in learning more about how nonprofit organizations develop successful strategies to generate earned income to pursue their mission, build capacity and achieve greater sustainability?
Are so, you're invited to join the npEnterprise Forum listserv, the official listserv of the Social Enterprise Alliance. This free, no-spam listserv offers friendly interactions among colleagues who seek to learn from each other about social enterprise strategies and best practices. Recent discussion topics include the role of social enterprise in a down economy, sample financial statements for triple bottom line businesses, and ventures for faith-based organizations.
To subscribe, send a blank email to npEnterprise-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
3. A Call for Papers for the Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development
The only journal of its kind in Canada, the Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development (JAED) provides a view of economic development from a uniquely Aboriginal perspective. Published jointly by CANDO and Captus Press, the Journal is peer reviewed by a distinguished academic editorial board to ensure high quality Aboriginal content. The Journal covers the following areas: learning from experience, lessons from research, book reviews and commentary. The JAED invite papers and case studies by academics and practitioners for the next volume to be published in September 2009. Click here to find out more.
4. A Call for Papers for the Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing
The Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing is publishing a special issue on civic participation and service learning. Empirical, conceptual, and literature review articles are welcome. In addition, 600 word book reviews are also welcome. Case studies are discouraged.
The deadline for submissions is November 1st. Please send submissions as Word attachments to the editor at walter.wymer@uleth.ca. Instructions for authors are online at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/WNONauth.asp.
See http://www.istr.org/ for more information.
5. Researcher Position Available with the Learning Enrichment Foundation
The Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF) is seeking an individual to work within their Community Development sphere of work as a researcher. Building on their recent Neighbourhood Survey the incumbent will be working closely with the Executive Director, the Director of Neighbourhood Services and all department managers to support LEF in broadening their impacts and developing strategies and funding that directly combat the Poverty of Money, The Poverty of Time and The Poverty of Relationships that are so prevalent in the community.For more information, click here.
Other News
1. CCEDNet is Now on the Steering Committee for Make Poverty History
The Canadian CED Network has endorsed Make Poverty History since it was launched in Canada in 2005. Recently, however, the network has stepped up its involvement by joining its steering committee. Make Poverty History is part of a global call to action against poverty. Its campaigns are active in over 100 countries. Here in Canada the movement has mobilized citizens and organizations on issues related to poverty at home and abroad. Make Poverty History's platform calls for more and better aid, trade justice, debt cancellation, and the end of child poverty in Canada.
To learn more about Make Poverty History visit http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/
Future Newsletters
1. We Want to Hear From You!
This is where your own participation in the CCEDNet Ontario newsletter comes in. Where you can post information on community or CED events, initiatives, projects, or activities taking place in your area, and inform hundreds of CED workers and enthusiasts about it throughout our region.
Please forward any information you wish to circulate throughout our CED community to mthompson@ccednet-rcdec.ca.