January/February 2010

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Contents

Canadian CED Network News

1.  Mark your calendars! 2010 Summit on a People-Centred Economy
2.  Supporting Emergency Relief Efforts in Haiti
3.  2009 National CED Survey
4.  Recent Parliamentary Presentations

CED News

5.  UN General Assembly proclaims 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives
6.  CPRN: Why Social Housing Policy Matters
7.  LITE's 13th Annual Wild Blueberry Pancake Breakfast
8.  Calgary Herald: Loans provide immigrants with access to success

Resources

9.  The fine print: Vital information for Canadian charities operating Social Enterprises
10.  GDP: A year long participatory webdoc produced by the NFB
11.  YES Magazine: Ten Courageous Things You Can Do to Build Community
12.  IN FROM THE MARGINS: A call to action on poverty, housing and homelessness
13.  MaRS: Social Entreperneurship: Enabling Solutions to Complex Social Problems
14.  GiftTool Conference Registration Services

 

Canadian CED Network News

1. Mark your Calendars! 2010 Summit on a People Centred Economy

From cooperatives that have existed for more than a century, to the latest innovative social enterprises, citizen-led efforts to build a people-centred economy are rich in their history and diversity. 

In the face of recent economic turmoil and growing ecological crises, these approaches are more relevant than ever. 

The 2010 National Summit on a People-Centred Economy will bring together leaders and representatives of the community economic development, cooperative and social economy sectors to build a common agenda and mobilize action for a secure, sustainable economy that puts people and the planet first.

The 2010 Summit will be centred on six themes:

  1. Finance and Investment 
  2. Enterprise Development 
  3. Territorial Revitalization
  4. Organizing the Social Economy Marketplace 
  5. Partnerships 
  6. International
Don’t miss it!
May 30 - June 1, 2010
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/en/summit

 

2. Supporting Emergency Relief Efforts in Haiti

Like people the world over, we at the Canadian CED Network are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the catastrophe that has struck Haiti. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost, while many more remain missing, or are without food and shelter.

The Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CÉCI), a Canadian CED Network member, has been active in Haiti for nearly 40 years and is one of the largest Canadian NGOs on the ground there. CECI and all its teams have been active since the moments after the disaster and they are working with a solid network of local partners, which greatly facilitates humanitarian operations. CÉCI’s teams are currently mobilized to bring first-aid, food and water supplies to meet the emergency needs.

Continue reading…

 

3. 2009 National CED Survey

The Canadian CED Network would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the 2009 National CED Survey last November. We had over 130 responses to the survey, providing extremely valuable information on the needs and priorities of our members and the sector.  We will be acting on that information over the coming year.

CCEDNet extends our appreciation to the funders who contributed to this project: the United Way of Winnipeg, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and The Co-operators.

Congratulations to Julia Smith Brake from Montreal, Quebec who is the winner of the draw for a free registration to the 2010 National Summit on a people-centered economy, in Ottawa.

 

4. Recent Parliamentary Presentations

CCEDNet members and staff have been very active in recent months with a number of presentations to federal committees. Mike Toye, CCEDNet’s Executive Director, presented to the House of Commons Finance Committee as part of their pre-budget hearings. You can read the transcript here. A number of presentations were made to the federal Human Resources Committee as part of their study on reducing poverty in Canada. Brendan Reimer, CCEDNet’s Prairies and Northern Territories Regional Coordinator, and Shauna MacKinnon from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Manitoba, Lynne Fernandez from the Manitoba Research Alliance and Lindsey McBain, for the Right to Housing Coalition presented in Winnipeg, and David LePage, of Enterprising Nonprofits presented in Vancouver. Both Shauna and David are members of CCEDNet’s Policy Council.

 

CED News

5. UN General Assembly proclaims 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives

Canada's co-operative sector is celebrating the United Nations General Assembly's decision to proclaim 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives.

The proclamation of the International Year was included in a resolution entitled "Co-operatives in Social Development", which was adopted by the General Assembly at today's session in New York. The full text of the resolution can be downloaded here.

Since 1959, the UN has designated International Years in order to draw attention to major issues and to encourage international action to address concerns which have global importance.

"The International Year of Co-operatives is an opportunity for people everywhere to learn more about this diverse group of organizations that contribute so much to economies and communities in virtually every corner of the world," said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators

 

6. CPRN: Why Social Housing Policy Matters

Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) in partnership with the Social Housing Services Corporation (SHSC) has just released six comprehensive papers that address a wide range of social housing policies in Canada. This joint initiative between CPRN and SHSC began in 2006 with the goal of building policy capacity in the housing sector and encouraging evidence-based research initiatives from quality graduate students.

The most recent cohort of HISP interns has continued this tradition of producing comprehensive research, sound analysis, and pragmatic policy recommendations. Look at the topics explored in the papers.

 

7. LITE's 13th Annual Wild Blueberry Pancake Breakfast

The biggest annual CED fundraising event in the country is an annual fundraising breakfast for Local Investment Towards Employment (LITE), a non-profit granting organization that supports community economic development (CED) initiatives that build capacity and provide jobs in Winnipeg's inner city. This year's Breakfast was another huge success, with over 800 attendees and more than $20,000 raised in ticket sales and donations!

Throughout the morning, the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre was bustling with hundreds of people who came out to mingle with old friends and new. While out, people were able to do some early Christmas shopping at our local Crafter's Market, enjoy the locally sourced blueberry pancakes catered by LITE Partners, and take in performances by The Dusty Roads Band, Fred Penner, Troy Westwood, and Niji Mahkwa School Choir.

For more information, see LITE’s website.

 

8. Calgary Herald: Loans provide immigrants with access to success

By David Parker, Calgary Herald

Too many immigrants are doing quite menial tasks here although they are well-educated and, before moving to Canada, were skilled tradesmen or qualified professionals. It is a tragedy as well as an embarrassment.

Some are not able to find equivalent work here because of problems communicating efficiently in the English language; but too many are hampered because of a lack of funds to enable them to take the time to study and afford the costs of taking exams to acquire the necessary accreditation.

Maria Eriksen, who passed away last year, recognized the problem while working as a psychologist at the Calgary General Hospital in talking with immigrants who were working as cleaning staff. She is quoted as saying of immigrants, "The first degree you have to get in Canada is one of humiliation."

She decided to do something about it and began talking about launching a fund to help new Calgarians get the right tuition and be able to pay for expensive examination fees.

Continue reading...

Resources

9. The fine print: Vital information for Canadian charities operating Social Enterprises

Since 2004, the BC Centre for Social Enterprise has been advocating for the creation of a separate legal structure for social enterprise in Canada. In addition to adding legitamacy and recognition of practice, and attracting much needed capital to the sector, a new structure would also define a clear space for operating a social enterprise, a space whose rules of engagement are ambiguous. Also since 2004, the BC Centre for Social Enterprise has been suveying the sector with respect to what structural barriers are being experienced first hand. Most social enterprise operators report few of these.

The reason, we believe, that few in the sector are reporting structural social enterprise barriers is that they are not consious of the limits that exist. They are unaware that they may be in a position of having their charitible status suspended or revoked, should the CRA ever find out.

Read The Fine Print: Vital information for Canadian charities operating Social Enterprises

 

10. GDP: A year-long participatory webdoc produced by the NFB

Canadians have been living through a period of profound economic turmoil. For an entire year, starting September 2009, the NFB brings you personal stories from the frontlines - where new economic realities are colliding with daily life. You too can be part of this interactive web documentary! Post your comments, images, and videos. Join us as we tell the collective story of a country in transition. Together let’s document this critical moment in our history.

Specific stories:
Photo essays:

 

11.  YES Magazine: Ten Courageous Things You Can Do to Build Community

by Milenko Matanovic

Building strong communities is critical, hard work. I feel it’s one of the most courageous, important things each of us can do every day.

We can speed up the realization of good community building ideas if we live our lives consistent with community priorities. The good news: practically every activity and every moment grants us the opportunity to practice community-minded behavior.

Read 10 ways you can start the courageous work of building community today.

 

12. IN FROM THE MARGINS: A call to action on poverty, housing and homelessness

Assigned the task of studying social conditions in Canadian cities, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology‘s Subcommittee on Cities chose to begin with people whose lives in those cities are marginalized by poverty, housing challenges and even homelessness. The most vulnerable among city-dwellers in Canada were our starting place.

We set out to determine how governments, businesses and the voluntary sector were able to help people escape poverty. To our distress, we found that decades of social policy making at different levels of government have had two possibly devastating results.

Read IN FROM THE MARGINS: A call to action on poverty, housing and homelessness (283 pages pdf)

 

13.  MaRS: Social Entrepreneurship: Enabling Solutions to Complex Social Problems

Social entrepreneurs are mobilizing talent and capital from both the public and private sectors to address complex societal challenges. However, the marketplace for these ventures is emerging and traditional investment vehicles struggle to accommodate the investment opportunities presented by the social entrepreneurs in their efforts to combine a positive economic return with a social impact mission. As a result, many promising social ventures fail to achieve their true potential due to limited access to resources.

In recent years, the need to identify and apply innovative methodologies to address complex social issues has picked up momentum among public and private leaders globally. Some of the forces driving the need for innovation in this area include the call for action on climate change, poverty reduction and an aging population with the corresponding pressure on the health-care system.

Read the MaRS paper, Social Entrepernuership: Enabling Solutions to Complex Social Problems.

 

14. GiftTool Conference Registration Services

As a service offered to member organizations, the Canadian CED Network will help you set up on-line conference or event registration using GiftTool. Registrants to your conference can pay with a credit card online, through a secure connection, or send a cheque. You can set up registration for individual workshops throughout the conference and for ancillary events like pre-conference intensives or gala dinners.

When a conference registrant finalizes the online registration process, they receive a confirmation email with location details and a receipt. Best of all, GiftTool makes onsite registration easier than ever. Your conference organizer can print off delegate badges and customizable reports of attendees with the details that you need. GiftTool is a provided for a reasonable rate, and proceeds support the continued work of the Canadian CED Network.

To discuss how GiftTool can work for you, contact Seth Wright, communications assistant, at (250) 386-9980 or swright@ccednet-rcdec.ca

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