Co-op Conversations
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives' (CCSC) Co-op Conversations is a monthly online gathering for co-operative sector professionals to learn from others in the field and exchange information in a casual setting. The CCSC believes that the best learning is peer-to-peer, and casual conversations across different organizations are what break old thinking patterns, make new connections, and generate fresh perspectives. Each Co-op Conversation will be held during lunch hours (Saskatchewan time) on the first Wednesday of the month.
What can we make of the demise of the BC Tree Fruits Cooperative? featuring Dr. Chris Bodnar
With an 80-year history in British Columbia's Okanagan region, BC Tree Fruits Cooperative – a grower-owned co-operative that processed, stored, packaged, and sold fruit – filed for insolvency in 2024. BC Tree Fruits Cooperative represented 250 grower families and had more than $111 million in assets in 2023. While this came as a shock to many outside the sector, it was anticipated by many within. When a co-operative of this size goes under, it gets a lot of media attention.
In this Co-op Conversation, Dr. Chris Bodnar will focus on factors that led to the demise of the co-operative, including long-term declines in the apple sector, member in-fighting, and overall challenges facing agriculture in BC. Chris will also share the lessons learned from this case and provide some thoughts on how other co-operatives can avoid this fate.
Biography
Dr. Chris Bodnar is an Assistant Professor in Agriculture at the University of Fraser Valley. Chris has over 18 years experience as a vegetable farmer in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Chris’ research interest is on co-operative business models and has been active in studying agricultural co-ops in different parts of the world and developing policy approaches to supporting agricultural co-ops in BC.
Event Details
Date: January 8, 2025
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: on Zoom
File: Download Event Poster
Past talks can be found here: Past Co-op Conversations.
MacPherson Talk
The 10th Annual MacPherson Talk featuring Joseph Heath
Are Co-operatives More Virtuous than Corporations? featuring Dr. Joseph Heath
There are several sectors of the economy in which cooperatives have flourished, competing successfully against standard business corporations. The best explanation for their success is that they provide superior benefits to their members. The question that will be the focus of this talk is whether co-operatives also provide important benefits to society, such that non-members should prefer a co-operative economy to one dominated by business corporations. It has often been suggested that co-operatives are more virtuous, because they are more democratic, less hierarchical, less anti-social, and less apt to produce economic inequality. In this talk, Dr. Joseph Heath will evaluate these claims, while questioning whether co-operatives are all that different from corporations.
About our Speaker
Dr. Joseph Heath is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. Dr. Heath is a renowned and award-winning philosopher and author. He is the author of several books, both popular and academic, including Filthy Lucre and The Rebel Sell. His most recent book is titled, Cooperation and Social Justice.
Event Details
Date: December 5, 2024
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: This is a hybrid event and will take place in Prairie Room, Diefenbaker Building (101 Diefenbaker Place, University of Saskatchewan) and on Zoom
File: Download Event Poster
Fredeen Lecture
The Fredeen Lecture is hosted annually and features the research of the most recent recipient of the Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies. This scholarship is offered annually to a student who is conducting research on co-operatives, either entering or continuing studies in a master's or doctoral program at the University of Saskatchewan.
The 2024 Fredeen Lecture (featuring Eylin Jorge Coto)
Analysis of the Government Relations between Credit Unions and Farm Credit Canada featuring Eylin Jorge Coto
Despite playing a pivotal role in the Canadian economy – credit unions serve more than 10 million people– their participation in policy advocacy (outside-in lobbying) and policymaking (inside co-design) remains understudied. Building on early scholarship suggesting that co-operatives are ill-suited to either role because of the often-divergent needs and interests of their membership, this research explores a case where credit unions have had to engage in advocacy and policymaking to protect their business and purpose against intrusions from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), a government-owned agricultural lender that, unlike other government lenders, operates in competition with the private sector and without a ‘complementarity’ mandate. This presentation will describe the evolving relationship between credit unions and FCC over the past 50 years, identify the lessons learned, and suggest its implications for future policy advocacy and policymaking efforts by the Canadian credit union sector.
Presented by Eylin Jorge Coto, Recipient of the 2023 Hartley and Margaret Fredeen Scholarship in Co-operative Studies
Eylin Jorge Coto is currently completing her Master of Public Policy degree at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, while serving as a research assistant at the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. Eylin has further held roles such as an intern for the Mayor's Office in Saskatoon, where she helped to coordinate the "Women Leading Civic Engagement Forum".
Event Details
Date: November 27, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: On Zoom
File: Download Event Poster
Past lectures can be found here: Past Fredeen Lecture.
Special Talks
The Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives hosts additional periodical public lectures featuring topical research and visiting scholars. Below you can find our most recent special talk and an archive of special talks we have hosted in the past.
Intervention Earth – Public Lecture and Book Signing with Gwynne Dyer
The global climate emergency is now an alarming fact of life. As scientists, politicians and concerned citizens scramble for solutions to the catastrophic effects of a warming world, many are thinking that it's all too little, too late. In Intervention Earth, renowned historian, journalist, and author Gwynne Dyer interviews the world’s top 100 climate scientists to discuss the extraordinary measures we must contemplate to counter the irreversible effects of climate change. In this public talk, Gwynne will share what he learned through those conversations and propose some options – big and small – that might just keep us ahead of encroaching disaster and carry us to a safe harbour.
This free in person lecture will be followed by a book signing. Copies of Intervention Earth will be available for purchase at the event.
About our speaker
Gwynne Dyer is an historian and independent journalist. He has published several books and has had his articles widely syndicated for many years. Dyer’s recent books include Climate Wars (2009), Crawling from the Wreckage (2010), and War (2004).
Event Details
Date: October 1, 2024
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: Henry Taube Lecture Theatre, Thorvaldson 271 ("Airplane Room"), 110 Science Place, University of Saskatchewan
File: Download Event Poster
Advance registration is required, as seating is limited. The lecture is free to attend and open to all.
Climate Change and How We Can Change Our Future: An Ask Me Anything Session with Gwynne Dyer
In his latest book, Intervention Earth, renowned historian, journalist, and author Gwynne Dyer interviewed the world’s top 100 climate scientists to discuss the extraordinary measures we must contemplate to counter the irreversible effects of climate change. Join him for this Ask Me Anything session, where he will answer the questions you have always wanted to ask about the climate change crisis.
About our speaker
Gwynne Dyer is an historian and independent journalist. He has published several books and has had his articles widely syndicated for many years. Dyer’s recent books include Climate Wars (2009), Crawling from the Wreckage (2010), and War (2004).
Event Details
Date: October 1, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM (Saskatchewan Time or Central Standard Time)
Where: Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) Commons, 1337 College Drive, University of Saskatchewan
File: Download Event Poster
Past talks can be found here: Past Special Talks.
Co-operatives in a Time of Crisis
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Centre for the Study Co-operatives launched the "Co-operatives in Times of Crisis Conversation Series", which asked leaders in co-operatives, big and small, how they were making use of their co-operative structure to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis.
Jen Budney, Professional Research Associate, the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and former Chair, the Spadina Early Learning and Childcare Co-operative
Past talks can be found here: Full Series Conversation.