Do you love telling stories? Short stories, 200 characters long that have an impact; visual stories that capture a moment or idea and shift perspectives; and longer stories about how individuals and organizations can improve their communities. All this within the context of a flowing narrative of how the co-operative business model can build a … Continued
To raise the profile of co-op issues in the BC election, BCCA sent a survey of seven questions to each of the main political parties to gauge their support of our policy priorities. Responses were received from all three parties, which presents us with good opportunities for follow up on important challenges. Of note, the … Continued
During our MEC Townhall on October 15th, we all watched this video about the story of La Siembra, a co-op that came very close to losing their co-operative identity to a sale, much like MEC. This video tells the story of how instead, the La Siembra community leaned into the co-operative principles and values and … Continued
As part of our Annual General Meeting on October 15th, BCCA hosted a public townhall dialogue around the sale of MEC and what BCCA and the co-operative community as a whole can do moving forward. We were joined by organizers Kevin Harding and Yuill Herbert from SaveMEC to speak about the valiant organizing work that … Continued
It’s been an exciting and challenging year for BCCA, and we have seen significant growth and development in a lot of our programs, services, and initiatives as we continue to push the pace to serve co-operatives in BC. We are excited to publish our annual report which captures a lot of this great work over … Continued
BC’s co-op and credit union sector is still reeling from the news that Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), a beloved retail brand in this country for nearly 50 years, is intended to be sold to a foreign private investor, U.S.-based Kingswood Capital Management. As has been widely reported, the members of MEC were not consulted and learned … Continued
On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the BC Co-operative Association (BCCA), you are invited to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) taking place Thursday, October 15, 2020, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Please note this meeting will be held virtually using Zoom. You will receive the Zoom details upon your registration … Continued
BCCA is adding a new dimension to our Annual General Meeting registration by offering you a chance to win some great prizes with the BCCA AGM Scavenger Hunt! When you register for the BCCA AGM, you’ll find a spot to answer these super easy Scavenger Hunt Questions. All you need to do to find out … Continued
The news of MEC’s sale to a US corporate investment firm has raised many questions amongst the co-operative community, most of them centering on how a co-operative could be sold without engaging its members. Given there’s been little public information available around the conversations that transpired around the MEC boardroom, it would be speculation to … Continued
Co-op education is one of the most important tools we have for sustaining our co-operative organizations and growing the co-operative movement. Over the summer, one of BCCA’s major focuses was on building out free and openly accessible resources for our members and other “co-op curious” groups to use for educating their members about the co-operative … Continued