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In this issue:
Canadian CED Network News
Saskatchewan CED News
- Chef's Gala Dinner to Support Station 20 West
- The Boomerang Effect: The Next Generation of Co-operators in Quebec
- Policy Change Could Threaten Accessibility of Affordable Housing
- Putting Co-ops on the Map
- Centre for the Study of Co-operatives' Big Plans for IYC 2012
- 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 Prince Albert and District Community Service Centre provides a wide range of social services for Prince Albert residents and has done so since its formation in 1968. The agency works with many community partners and volunteers to achieve its organizational mandate.
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.
Saskatchewan CED News
Chef's Gala Dinner to Support Station 20 West
Enjoy six gourmet courses and support a good cause! The Saskatoon Chef's Association is hosting the third annual Chef's Gala Dinner with proceeds going to the Station 20 West project. The event is being held on February 11 at the Prairieland Park Hall. Entertainment and a live auction will alos be held.
>> Read more
Putting Co-ops on the Map
Co-operators in Alberta have found a novel way to raise public awareness about the province's co-ops during the International Year of Co-operatives. They are developing a Google Map indicating the location of the province's co-ops and credit unions. While the map is still a work in progress, it can be seen here. Alberta co-operatives who would like to put their organization on the map should contact Fred Khonje, co-operative development coordinator at the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association.
He can be reached at Fred.Khonje@sask.coop.
(Source: CCA News Brief)
Policy Change Could Threaten Accessibility of Affordable Housing
A proposed change to Saskatoon's housing policy has Quint Development Corporation concerned about the future accessibility of affordable housing in low-income neighbourhoods. In a recent Star Phoenix editorial, Len Usiskin (Quint's manager), writed about his disapproval of the proposed changes, which he claims will shift financial incentives for affordable housing in areas where there is a high concentration of affordable rental housing to other areas where it is lacking. Len writes, "Not only does this penalize Saskatoon's lowest income neighbourhoods but it runs counter to different plans identified for the core neighbourhoods." Quint has been working to improve housing affordability through CED approaches in Saskatoon's low-income neighbourhoods since 1995.
>> Read more
The Boomerang Effect: How Quebec’s School Co-ops are Training the Next Generation of Co-operators
The Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and le Conseil de la coopération de la Saskatchewan are hosting a seminar inspired by education-based co-operatives in Quebec. Join guest speaker, Jean-Emmanuel Bouchard, to find out how these co-operatives have enjoyed steady growth, while providing education services to over 300,000 students and reinvesting in the community.
This event is being held on January 25 at the University of Saskatchewan (Prairie Room, Diefenbaker Building), beginning at 4:00pm.
>> Read more
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives' Big Plans for IYC 2012
The Centre of Co-operative Studies at the University of Saskatchewan has exciting upcoming plans to ring in the International Year of Co-operatives. The Centre’s activities will kick off on January 25, with the first in a series of seminars celebrating the achievements of co-operatives locally, nationally, and internationally. Seminars will also be held in mid-February and March, which look at fair trade coffee co-operatives in Nicaragua.
The Centre also has plans to reconfigure its co-op exhibit, Building Community: Creating Social and Economic Well-Being and bring it to communities in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba. If that wasn't enough, plans are also already underway for a major conference titled Co-operating to Build a Better West, which will take place November 1-3 at the Radisson Hotel in Saskatoon.
>> 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