NEWS and EVENTS
Please join us for the first in what will be a particularly significant seminar series celebrating this International Year of Co-operatives.
The Boomerang Effect
How Quebec’s School Co-ops Are Training the Next Generation of Co-operators
Jean-Emmanuel Bouchard
President, Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire
Prairie Room
Diefenbaker Building
University of Saskatchewan
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
4:00 – 5:30 PM
The sixty members that make up the Quebec federation of student co-operatives serve more than three hundred thousand people and have a cumulative turnover of $120 million annually. These co-ops belong to the students and staff of Quebec’s educational institutions and offer services such as bookstores, school supplies, computer equipment, and food services. After overcoming many challenges, the co-operatives have been growing steadily since the 1980s. They have a special place in Quebec’s co-op movement, providing valuable services and a training ground for the next generation of co-operators. Reinvesting their profits in their communities, they offer both economic and social benefits for Quebec’s educational institutions and the province as a whole.
About the Presenter
Jean-Emmanuel Bouchard is studying political science at the University of Quebec in Montreal and is a board member of the university co-op, with which he has been involved for four years. He has been president of la Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire (COOPSCO) since June 2011 and also serves on the board of directors of Groupe Fides, a publishing subsidiary of COOPSCO. He sits on numerous co-operative committees in Quebec and has also participated in a variety of projects, including one in Peru that earned him a prize in co-operative involvement in May 2010.
PDF 
Please click on any of the photos to see them in a larger format.
Melfort is the first community outside Saskatoon to host the Building Communities Exhibit, which highlights the history and impact of co-operatives and features several specific social enterprises and co-operative initiatives that are contributing to the well-being of people in this province and some other Canadian locales.
Carolyn Camman (practicum student from Social Applied Psychology), Maria Basualdo (Exhibit Coordinator), and Lou Hammond Ketilson, Director of the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives (currently on sabbatical)
The exhibit, formally titled, “Building Community: Creating Social and Economic Well-Being”, was created as a co-operative effort between the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and the Diefenbaker Canada Centre, who provided their expertise in museum quality exhibits. Lou Hammond Ketilson is the visionary who conceived of the idea for the exhibit after which individuals from the Centre Staff and the Diefenbaker Canada Centre grew and created the completed exhibit. While Lou has been on sabbatical in 2011, she has been devoting a great deal of time to her further vision of more portable versions of the exhibit that will travel throughout Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northern Ontario.
Ed Bourassa, University of Saskatchewan Senator, and Brett Fairbairn, University of Saskatchewan Provost and Vice President Academic
Several sponsors kindly lent their support to bring this exhibit to Melfort knowing it would benefit all ages of citizens in Melfort and surrounding communities. You will see the names and logos of the sponsors at the bottom of this post.
Betty Bauhuis, Cornerstone Credit Union, and Doug Terry, Interim Mayor of Melfort
An official opening of the exhibit and a reception was held in Melfort on October 19, 2011. It was very well attended.
The exhibit will be in Melfort at the Kerry Vickar Centre until October 28 and it is expected that other Saskatchewan communities will host this or the more more portable version of the exhibit in 2012, the International Year of Co-operatives.
An online version of the exhibit is also available for your viewing and can be found here.
Please click on the image to better see the sponsors supporting the Building Communities Exhibit in Melfort.
The Saskatoon Co-op Network Ramps Up for IYC 2012
At last week’s Saskatoon Co-op Network Luncheon, Victoria Morris updated everyone about upcoming events for the International Year of Co-operatives in 2012. Seen here are just some of the proud, flag-waving co-op supporters.
Everyone is encouraged to get involved and take this opportunity to spread the word … that Co-operative Enterprises Build A Better World.
We have published a new report in our Occasional Paper Series.
Models for Effective Credit Union Governance: Maintaining Community Connections following a Merger
Lou Hammond Ketilson and Kimberly Brown (75 p), 2011.
Download the PDF.
This occasional paper, first titled A Post-Merger Governance Review: Report to the Governance Committee of Advantage Credit Union, originated as an internal review commissioned by the board of directors of Advantage Credit Union in Saskatchewan. The board generously agreed to allow us to publish the study in our occasional paper series in order to make the extensive background research and the credit union’s merger experience more widely available to credit unions, co-operatives, and other membership-based organizations. It is hoped that the paper will provide useful guidance to other groups contemplating a similar move.
If you would like to purchase a bound copy for $15, please contact us.
Introduction:
Over the past two decades, there have been many credit union mergers in Canada, particularly in western Canada and Ontario. During the same period, credit union membership has increased steadily. So, while the number of credit unions has decreased, their average size has increased. In addition to an increase in membership size, amalgamation has created a need to develop new partnerships among many different communities. As democratic organizations
with elected boards of directors, such changes can have profound effects on organizational governance and, as a result, credit unions need to consider carefully the impact of amalgamation on their governance structures.
The purpose of this study was to:
- review published research and current practice to identify emerging issues and ideas about credit union mergers and effective governance models
- examine the existing governance model of Advantage Credit Union (ACU), in particular the ways in which the recent merger between Northgate and Advantage credit unions had impacted governance structures, policies, processes, and practices; and membership identity, loyalty, and participation
- gather information for input to decisions taken by the Governance Committee regarding optimum board size and committee structure
The report is preceded by an Executive Summary in which background information is provided and research results and recommendations are listed.
Please take a moment to look at other publications in our Occasional Paper Series.
Professor Len Findlay Awarded D. Litt.
Please join us in offering our warm congratulations to Professor Len Findlay, one of our Centre Scholars, who has been awarded a D. Litt. from the University of Saskatchewan. This latest award for Dr. Findlay was conferred at Spring Convocation 2011.
Len Findlay is a cultural and intellectual historian, editor, translator, critic of literature and the visual arts, and a student of the university as an institution, of the humanities as an evolving formation, and of Canadian educational policy, making him one of the most distinctive and influential voices in Humanities scholarship, both in Canada and abroad.
The Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network is pleased to present the third of a series of webinars that examine the added value of co-operatives to their communities.
Co-operative Enterprises:
Their Relevance Now and in the Future
Thursday, April 14, 2-3 pm Eastern
Featured Speakers
Dr. Lou Hammond Ketilson
Former Director of the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
University of Saskatchewan
John Restakis
Executive Director of the British Columbia Co-operative Association and author of the recently-published Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital
This webinar will discuss the human, social, democratic and economic aspects of co-operatives, with special attention to the resiliency of co-operatives through the economic crisis.
For more information about the webinar and to register, go here.
Dr. Michael Gertler
named Acting Director,
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives
The Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, together with its Management Advisory Board, is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Gertler has assumed the role of acting director for a one-year term, beginning January 1, 2011.
Michael joined the Centre in 1996 and continues to serve as Fellow in Community and Co-operative Development. At the University of Saskatchewan he is likewise an associate professor with the Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Science and an associate member of the School of Environment and Sustainability. He is a management board member for the Community-University Institute for Social Research and is active in several academic and co-operative sector organizations in Canada and the USA.
With an educational background in urban and regional planning, renewable resources, and development sociology, Michael’s research interests include co-operatives and sustainability, co-operatives as knowledgeable enterprises, and organizational and institutional innovations in agriculture and housing.
Centre for the Study of Co-operatives Seminar Series 2010/11
Humanizing the Economy:
Co-operatives in the Age of Capital
How the largest social movement in history is paving the way to a brighter future.
John Restakis
Executive Director
British Columbia Co-operative Association
Thursday, April 7, 2011
3:00 – 4:30 pm
1E80 Agriculture Building
51 Campus Drive
University of Saskatchewan
Humanizing the Economy is a story about a revolution in human society that began with the rise of democracy in politics and continues to unfold as the democratic idea struggles to find its place in the world of economics. If economic democracy is the hidden face of this ongoing revolution, then the history of the co-operative idea is its most durable expression.
The global co-operative movement appears to have arrived at a crossroads. With the collapse of Communism and with the capitalist system in crisis, the case for the expansion of economic democracy has never been more relevant or more urgent. There is a need for a middle path that avoids the Marxist extreme of market rejection on the one hand and the unbridled power of capital under neoliberalism on the other. But will the co-operative movement provide the leadership so desperately needed to seize the moment and point a way forward?
Humanizing the Economy shows that the popular drive to democratize economies is in fact working to transform virtually every economy in the world today. And for those who are willing to look, the evidence of a new, more humane, economic and social order is there to see.
Heather, the librarian, highly recommends this brief and easy to read guide for academics and researchers. I think it really clears up some of the confusion and fears some people have about using social media and suggests ways in which it can be harnessed to take one’s career to a new level. The guide includes quotes from individuals about their experiences with social media and how it has impacted their professional lives.
This guide has been published by the UK-based Research Information Network and aims to provide the information needed to make an informed decision about using social media and select from the vast range of tools that are available.
One of the most important things that researchers do is to find, use and disseminate information, and social media offers a range of tools which can facilitate this. The guide discusses the use of social media for research and academic purposes and will not be examining the many other uses that social media is put to across society.
Social media can change the way in which you undertake research, and can also open up new forms of communication and dissemination. It has the power to enable researchers to engage in a wide range of dissemination in a highly efficient way.
Access the guide at the Research Information Network where you will also find useful links and case studies.
The Impact of Retail Co-operative Amalgamations in Western Canada. Lou Hammond Ketilson, Roger Herman, and Dwayne Pattison (87 p), 2011. PDF
Bound copies are available for purchase at $15 each. To place an order, please contact us.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study was conducted to provide a better understanding of the impacts of retail co-operative amalgamations in western Canada. Of particular interest was the impact on the associational or membership structure of the co-operative (including membership control, member engagement, governance and communication); the operations of the co-operative (including products and services, prices, and capital investments); management (including the roles and responsibilities of managers, decision making, and manager accessibility); and the numerous external relationships of the co-operatives (including the interactions among the amalgamated co-ops and their involvement in communities).
The findings suggest that amalgamations, for the most part, play a key role in providing services to co-operative members and in ensuring rural retail viability. Compared to the smaller independent co-ops operating in rural communities across western Canada, the larger multibranch co-ops appear to be better able to meet the needs of rural retailers in a number of areas, including hiring managers, constructing or renovating facilities, and maintaining services within local communities. The impact on the operations, therefore, has been generally positive.
The impacts of amalgamations on member engagement and the governance of the coop, however, have not been as positive or as explicit. For instance, the interest of branch members in attending the annual meeting or being a board member tended to decline after an amalgamation. And because communication channels have not been significantly altered, members, managers, and board members must work harder at accessing information. The long-term consequences of these changes require further research, but previous experience suggests that co-operatives may be negatively impacted if issues of member engagement and communication are not addressed early.
Find more of our publications here.