BCCA Events Calendar

Great events in Vancouver for Co-op Week!

marcuse@bcca.coop — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:37:13 -0700

Co-op Week Events for 2009 include:

Screening of Capitalism: A Love Story, Thursday, October 15, 7 PM, Fifth Avenue Cinemas. This special Co-op Week screening of Michael Moore’s new film will be followed by a panel discussion that includes Marc Lee, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; Geoff Meggs, City Councilor; and John Restakis, Executive Director, BCCA. Tickets for the screening will be available at the door. Please arrive early.

Co-op Week Luncheon Friday, October 16, Sequoia Grill in Stanley Park. Featuring a talk on
Re-weaving Local Economies: Strategies for Sustainability, by Mike Lewis, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Economic Renewal. Please note: RSVP required. (Please call Brad at 604-662-3906.)

Join Hands for Co-ops – Saturday, October 17, 1-2 PM, City Hall -- a flash mob event to celebrate the contribution co-ops make to the quality of life in Vancouver. Co-op supporters from across the city will join hands and surround City Hall as a gesture of co-op good will to the city. The band Headwater will be performing and participants will be joined by City Councilors to close this year’s Co-op Week celebrations.

Great events in Vancouver for Co-op Week!

marcuse@bcca.coop — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:24:23 -0700

2nd Annual CIRIEC Conference - Call for Papers

Karla Bloomfield — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:46:13 -0800

2nd International CIRIEC Research Conference on the Social Economy

The world is undergoing rapid and extensive changes associated with globalization, conflicting ideas about the roles of the State and the reconfiguration of communities. The financial crisis that was followed by market decline and the fear of a world wide recession demonstrated the vulnerability and interlinkage of the global market and its national economies. In this context of decreasing markets, the role of Social and Public Economy is more of interest in the public discussion.

The Social Economy contribution to local and regional sustainable development, to the welfare system and to entrepreneurship and job creation becomes more evident and important. Social Economy in this context is made of co-operatives, mutuals, non-profit organisations like associations and foundations and contains several approaches that can be of use to individuals in local communities, social entrepreneurs, policy makers, community activists and researchers.

The 2nd International CIRIEC Research Conference, which will take place October 1-2, 2009 in Östersund, Sweden, will focus on the developments within the theme, “The Social Economy in a world facing a global crisis”. During the two conference days, researchers and practitioners from different parts of the world will come together and create new knowledge and awareness on different Social Economy models e.g. in Eastern Europe and Russia, in Africa, North and South America, Asia or other world regions, its relation towards social capital, regional development, social innovation, community and social entrepreneurship.

This conference follows the great success of the 1st International CIRIEC Research Conference on Social Economy in Victoria, Canada, 2007.

The Mid Sweden University, the City of Östersund, SISE/CIRIEC-Scandinavia and CIRIEC International invite you to participate and present the most recent developments within the international research on Social Economy.

After the huge success of the first edition of the conference in Victoria (Canada), October 2007, we once more rely on your participation.

The organisers invite researchers from universities, specialist research centres and practitioners from the Social Economy to take part in the conference and submit abstract proposals relevant to the thematic streams of the event.

The abstracts should be between 250 and 500 words long and include a bibliography. Abstracts shall be submitted preferably in English until 2009/02/15 in order to simplify the work and selection procedure for the Scientific Committee. However optionally we will accept them as well in French, Spanish or German. The abstract shall be submitted by uploading (copy and paste) on the following webpage.

Please find the call for papers with detailed information on the conference streams and on how to submit your abstract at: http://www.ciriec.ulg.ac.be/en/pages/0_1presentation.htm

Additional information can be found on the conference website:

http://www.socek.se/ciriec_research_2009

UCSC - Financial Fitness Series

Karla Bloomfield — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:29:02 -0800

Financial Fitness: Workshops About Healthy Not-for-profit Organizations

The United Community Services Co-op is pleased to present Vancity’s series of three day-long sessions on financial, accounting, and legal matters important to any not-for-profit organization.

For more event details, access eBrochure via:

http://www.ucscoop.com/uploads/vw/LP/vwLPeXsm0T5RVXNIez2DJA/FinancialFitness_PromoFnl.pdf

Victoria Health Co-op Community Forum

Karla Bloomfield — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:32:06 -0800

All are welcome! Please invite your friends and family for this opportunity to learn more about community controlled health care!

Find out about:

Health Co-op update
Our Vision, Mandate, and Mission
Our Strategic Plan
VCHC Strategic plans for 2009. A Community Wellness Center in 2009?
Benefits of Membership
How to get involved!

Get Involved! We need you! Bring a friend or two, the more the merrier!

Health Co-op powerpoint presentation on updates and progress will take place 2:00-3:30pm with questions and discussion welcome

A co-op social featuring live music, food and fun will proceed from 3:30-5:00pm. Please bring some snacks to share!

For more information, please contact Yvonne at: Yvonne.Hendrygmail.com

Co-op Rendez-Vous

Karla Bloomfield — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:37:34 -0800

Co-operatives, Legislation and Public Policy: A Symposium

Karla Bloomfield — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:34:51 -0800

Call for Symposium Participation and Papers

When: June 18-20, 2009

Who: Sobey School of Business

Saint Mary's University

Where: Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

The Master of Management - Co-operatives and Credit Unions (MMCCU) at Saint Mary's University is organizing a symposium to explore issues related to co-operatives and public policy.

Theme: Legislative Issues and Public Policy Issues.

Papers are welcome from:

Co-operative scholars and academics;
Co-operative managers with experience and responsibility in the field;
Government officials involved in legislation and public policy related to co-operatives;

Key legislation and policy issues:

Do legislation and public policy foster or hinder co-operatives?
Do legislation and public policy reflect benefits of co-operatives to society?
Does/should legislation and public policy for co-operatives differ from legislation and policy related to investor owned business?
What are good or bad examples of legislation and public policy?
Are there lessons from the global economic crisis?

Deadlines:

Abstract – must be received by March 31, 2009

Final Paper and presentation slides if applicable by June 1, 2009

The Context

Co-operatives and investor owned business have fundamentally different purposes.One exists to provide investors, who are risking their money, with the maximum rate of profit in return for that risk. The bottom line for investor owned business is a single bottom line.As Milton Freidman put it in an article in the New York Times in 1970, “the business of business is to maximize profits.”The business of co-operatives is to meet human needs, individual, group and community, in line with a set of globally accepted values and principles.

Co-operatives by their nature have multiple bottom lines. Investor-owned business is governed on the basis of one dollar one vote.Co-operatives are governed on the basis of one person one vote.These are two clearly different approaches to meeting human needs.

Logic would suggest that legislation and public policy governing and regulating investor-owned business and co-operatives ought to be different.But how? For co-operatives one might expect, as a minimum, an approach which would protect the capital accumulated by generations from appropriation by a few, adherence to the values and principles, protection of member owners from fraud or misdeed and protection of the public well being from the actions of members.For investor-owned business investors and the public need to be closely protected from a business vehicle that has a single bottom line not connected with human or community needs, except by a very imperfect market place, which rarely exists in reality.

In addition to these general questions there are a host of specific questions. Should landlord tenant laws apply to housing co-operatives where the members are both landlord and tenant? If not should some form of individual member protection from a majority be afforded? Should employment law designed for investor-owned business be applied to workers in a worker owned co-operative? Is there a need for property laws for co-operatives to distinguish between individual member property and commonly held co-operative property accumulated by several generations of co-operators through volunteer effort for group and community purposes?

There are many other questions and issues.

In this Symposium we invite papers with either general or specific purposes. Contributors from a number of countries with significantly varying public policy histories are especially welcome. Our expectation is that, while papers may draw on an individual country they will draw conclusions about legislation and public policy in terms that will apply as generally as possible to public policy internationally.

Length of Papers: 10-25 pages

Originality: Original papers will be accepted as the basis for presentations provided they make a substantial contribution the meeting the challenges outlined above. Original papers may be published as part of a special publication and on the MMCCU Website.

Format: All articles should be submitted by e-mail followed by a hard copy on 8 ½ X 11 or A4 paper. Margins should be 3 cm and double spacing should be used. Sub-headings are encouraged to break up the text. Word Format is preferred. References should follow the APA Style.(For a quick reference guide see Appendix II). A more detailed style guide is available.

Papers should be sent to:jtwebbauracom.com or tom.webbsmu.ca

Contact:

Larry Haiven

Tel. 902 420 5082

Email. larry.haivensmu.ca

Tom Webb

Tel. 902 496 8170 or 902 634 4536

Email. tom.webbsmu.ca

CWCF AGM/Conference

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:36:30 -0700

The Canadian Worker Co-op Federation ("CWCF") is pleased to announce its 2008 national Conference:

The focus at the 2008 CWCF Conference will be on practical training and sharing which will be highly relevant for worker co-ops when they get back home. An additional focus this year will be on the dynamic worker co-op scene in Winnipeg. Compared to other cities in nearby regions, the Winnipeg worker co-op movement is relatively large, and growing. What can the rest of the country learn from the co-ops and developers in Winnipeg? Last but not least, we will focus on having fun: WC Food Fair, WC Jam Session, time for socializing together, etc.

Focus on welcoming a diversity of participants including immigrants, aboriginal people, youth, etc.

Training and participatory workshops, including "Worker Co-ops 101", "Effective Advertising for Worker Co-ops", "Democratic Decision-Making Models", "Worker Co-op-Friendly Personnel Policies", "Anti-Oppression / Anti-Racism in Co-op Practice", and more - for co-op members, co-op developers, and the general public. There will be reports and information on resources available to assist in developing worker co-operatives, & the continuing collaborations with the labour movement.

For more information, see: www.coopzone.coop/CWCF_Conf08 (to be available by August 1st) or contact: Hazel Corcoran, Executive Director.

Member registration fees are: $160 for the first person, and $125 for others from the same member. Registration costs $410 for non-members.

If registration fee is a barrier to attending, please contact us regarding possible discounts & subsidies; non-members can consider joining. Conference fees include most lunches & dinners during Conference, and rates for attending portions of the Conference are also available. There are moderately priced accommodations on-site.

FREE SESSION: on Thurs., Nov. 13^th there will be a free Panel Discussion, at 7:30 pm, on : Is Your Worker Co-op Working, and How Do You Know? Location: Exchange District (TBC). Followed by a Worker Co-op Food Fair/ Trade Fair.

BCCA Members' Meeting

Web Admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:44:48 -0700

BCCA will hold its Fall Members' Meeting at the usual venue of the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC's boardroom.

This event is open to BCCA members only, except by invitation.

Please write to generalbcca.coop to indicate whether or not you will be coming, and how many people will come with you.

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BCCA Co-op Week Luncheon

Web Admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:20:21 -0700

The Co-op Week Luncheon is an annual event held by the BC Co-operative Association to celebrate the successes and promise of co-operatives in British Columbia.

VanDusen Gardens

The event always features exciting speakers of interest to the co-op sector, supported by a delicious lunch in a beautiful setting.

This year, the Luncheon will be held October 14th at the beautiful VanDusen Botanical Garden, and will feature two dynamic leaders from the labour and business communities.

British Columbia Meets Bologna

Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour, and Virginia Greene, President and CEO of the Business Council of BC, will share their visions of how the Bologna co-operative model can be applied to address local issues in British Columbia in what we anticipate will be a lively exchange.

Both speakers recently returned from a visit to the co-operative-rich region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, as part of Vancity's Leadership Program in Bologna.

Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancity, and Ellen Pekeles, SVP Strategy, will provide an overview of the Bologna Leadership Program and a summary of the leaders' recent tour.

Also on the program

BCCA will describe strategies used by five Lower Mainland co-operatives to raise awareness of co-ops among their members and employees, as part of the Co-op Choice Campaign.

These readily transferable strategies promise to spark the creativity and imagination of others in the co-op sector.

About the Speakers

Virginia Greene was recently appointed President and CEO of the Business Council of BC and has served as BC's Deputy Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and Deputy Minister of Tourism, Sports and the Arts.

Ms. Greene was the founder of Go Direct Marketing, and is a Past Chair of the BC/Yukon Division of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Jim Sinclair, President of the BC Federation of Labour, has been an articulate and active leader in the labour movement for more than 25 years.

Jim currently sits on the Board of Directors for Working Enterprises Ltd., the Working Opportunity Fund, and BC Citizens for Public Power.

Reserving Space

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To order tickets, please contact us at generalbcca.coop or 604-662-3906.

$45 (plus GST) per ticket
$350 (plus GST) per table of eight

Space is limited, so reserve your tickets soon.

A warm thank-you to our generous event sponors!