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Welcome to the National Summit on a People-Centred Economy, which is taking place at Carleton University in Ottawa from May 30 to June 1. If you can't be there in person, we hope this blog will give you the flavour of this historic event.
My name is Donna Balkan (that's me in the picture!). I'm the communications manager of the Canadian Co-operative Association and I'll be your guide to the Summit over the next few days. If you're reading this blog and have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at donna.balkan@coopscanada.coop.
But first, a bit of background.
What is the Summit?
About two years ago, a group of people involved in the co-operative and social economy movements throught it would be a good idea to hold a major gathering of people intererested in creating a firer, more sustainable economy. The result is the National Summit, which was organized by a variety of groups, including the Canadian Community Economic Development Network, the Canadian Co-operative Association, the Chantier de l'économie sociale and many others. If you want more background on the Summit, just CLICK HERE.
It all begins at 7 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 30. Watch this page throughout the Summit for ongoing reports on the presentations, discussions and outcomes of this historic eventl You can also click the National Summit link on the left-hand menu for more information and a link to download the full Summit program.
On to the Summit!
Tuesday, June 1, 10 p.m.
The National Summit on a People-Centred Economy is now one for the history books, and I hope future historians will be able to say that it was a turning point in the movement for a Canada that puts people at the centre of economic activity.
If the Summit had one overriding theme, it was that of collaboration, collective action and shared vision. That's something that should come naturally to people in the co-op sector, as collaboration, collective action and shared vision are what prompted people to start co-ops in the first place.
But the Summit also taught us that there are a lot of others who share this notion of a people-centred economy, and that by joining forces, we can achieve an even greater social purpose. I myself emerged from the Summit more optimistic about the future than I have been in a long time. I may even believe Raj Patel when he tells us that human beings are not intrinsically greedy and selfish, and can work together to manage resources in a fair, equitable and sustainable way.
The challenge now is to convince our fellow citizens that a people-centred economy is both possible and desirable, and that they can play a role in making it happen. The Summit -- and the declaration that emerged from it -- is one more step along the way toward accomplishing that goal.
Tuesday, June 1, 3:30 p.m.
You can't have a Summit without a declaration, and the National Summit on a People-Centred Economy is no exception. The draft declaration which was read out in English and French, then distributed to participants this afternoon is the outgrowth of yesterday's workshop discussions. It declares the participants' "determination and our commitment to building a people-centred economy" and adds that "the continued expansion of a people-centred economy is essential to the construction of a more just, equitable and sustainable world."
Photo: Victoria Morris and Emmanuelle Lapierre-Fortin read the draft declaration.
After the declaration was handed out, there was a period for questions and comments. As is commonplace at these kinds of events, most participants agreed with the content of the document, but had some concerns about language. Should it be a people-centred economy or a citizen-centred economy? Is the declaration too jargony; should it be re-written in plainer language? Is the language strong enough and sufficiently action-oriented? Does language like "women and men" exclude children?
The Summit organizers made the point that the document is a draft, and will consider all the comments when presenting the final version. They were kind enough to share an electronic version of the draft with me, which I'm posting here.
CLICK HERE to read the draft declaration in English
CLICK HERE to read the draft declaration in French
I'm now off to Montreal for the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation conference, but will have a few reflections on the Summit to add to this blog a little later on...Via Rail's WiFi willing!
Tuesday, June 1, 1:30 p.m.
How many politicians does it take to support a people-centred economy? Five, if the level of political interest in the Summit is any indication. Just as we were finishing lunch, we heard back-to-back presentations by Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP MP Tony Martin, the fourth and fifth politicians to speak over the past two days. Gilles Duceppe focused on Quebec's strong social economy movement, estimating that there are 14,000 social enterprises and other social economy organizations in Quebec with a total workforce of 125,000. Coming from the co-op sector, I was pleased to hear him harken back to the creation of North America's first co-operative financial institution in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins in 1900.
Tony Martin has long been known as a supporter of co-operatives, and has promoted the development of co-ops in his Northern Ontario riding. He quoted activist Mary Jo Leddy who once said that "Every social movement or political experiment begins with a vision that animates or draws it forward", adding that "a common social vision or ideal is something people aspire to, are exhilarated by and willing to make sacrifices for."
"We have seen the devastating results of an economy driven by greed and fear," he said. "We should chose a very different path... An economy where enough, rather than more, becomes the guiding principle."
Tuesday, June 1, 1 p.m.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, one of the things that characterizes the movement for a people-centred economy is its diversity: we come from different regions and different sectors, but share a common vision of a people-centred economy. The morning's final panel featured three people from different sectors: Susan Tanner from the Canadian Environmental Network; David Berge, senior VP for community investment for Vancity, Canada's largest credit union and Ray Wanuch, executive director of CANDO, the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers.
Susan Tanner talked about where sustainable development fits into the people-centred economy, and concluded with the elements the environment movement shares with all of us represented at the Summit: a common vocabulary and vision; that we are entrepreneurial but collaborative; that our practices are democratic and inclusive; and that our relationships are egalitarian. Her PowerPoint was one of the better ones of the Summit, complete with some clever cartoons about climate change and other environmental issues (who says environmentalists don't have a sense of humour?).
David Berge (pictured above) recently became Vancity's first senior vice president for community investment. The fact that such a position even exists is a feather in Vancity's cap, and Vancity has an outstanding reputation for both its environmental policies (Canada's first carbon-neutral financial institution, among other things) and its investment in community-based initiatives. He talked about how Vancity was created in 1946 with $22; it's now valued at more than $14 billion. And despite its success, Vancity is about a lot more than growth: "The question is not asked can we be the largest organization - the question is can we make the biggest difference."
Ray Wanuch focused on the challenges and opportunity of doing business in First Nations communities. He suggested that these communities need to focus on both financial literacy and cultural literacy (regarding their Aboriginal heritage). Far too often, he said, First Nations are suspicious of potentially-beneficial business opportunities: "Rather than look at a business venture and analyze it on economics, they look at the family names involved."
Tuesday, June 1, 11:15 a.m.
Yesterday we heard from two federal cabinet ministers; this morning, it was Michael Ignatieff's turn. The Opposition leader gave a short and punchy speech in which he described people who work in the social economy as "the people who put the heart and soul into the Canadian economy." He touched on a variety of issues ranging from elder care and child care to food policy to the relationship between government and NGOs. The social economy, he said, "should be a key part of the social policy toolkit" and pledged that a Liberal government would "put the social economy back on the agenda."
Right: Michael Ignatieff addresses the Summit
Tuesday, June 1, 9:30 a.m.
A rainy day in Ottawa and lots of traffic tie-ups on the way to the Summit, but most of us arrived for the start of Day 2. The day started with reports back from the workshops, which generated a lot of good ideas.
In yesterday morning's session, Nancy Neamtan of the Chantier de l'économie sociale in Quebec, said one of the prerequisites for strengthening the movement for a people-centred economy is a common vocabulary, shared by the diverse individuals and groups that make up this movement. As I listened to the workshop reports, I was thinking about vocabulary, and it occured to me that there are some terms that may not be familiar to everyone that is reading this blog.
The one that immediately comes to mind is "social enterprise", a term which the vast majority of the Summit participants identify themselves with. I decided to look up the Wikipedia entry for "social enterprise", which provides a definition which is both concise and inclusive:
"Social enterprises are social mission driven organizations which apply market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose. The movement includes both non-profits that use business models to pursue their mission and for-profits whose primary purposes are social. Their aim - to accomplish targets that are social and or environmental as well as financial - is often referred to as the triple bottom line. Many commercial businesses would consider themselves to have social objectives, but social enterprises are distinctive because their social or environmental purpose remains central to their operation."
In the case of co-operatives, their social mission is integrated into their structure and operations. Regardless of a co-op's size or business line, co-ops are formed in the spirit of mutual self-help, groups of people who get together to do something that they cannot do alone. They are democratic organizations that exist first and foremost to serve their members and the communities they live in. And they are guided by a series of internationally-recognized principles, including democratic member control and concern for community. Long before investor-owned corporations adopted the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility, co-ops were doing it as part of their mandate and mission.
Co-ops are not the only type of social enterprise organizations. There are a variety of non-profit organizations that have a business component to support their social mission; there are community economic development initiatives which focus on, for example, providing employment opportunities for low-income people or revitalizing neighbourhoods. There are businesses which are created to serve a specific social purpose, like environmental sustainability. Some of these are also co-ops; others are not. But collectively, they are social enterprises because, to go back to the definition, their social or environmental purpose remains central to their operation.
 Summit participants listen to the workshop chairs summarizing the discussions and recommendations on Tuesday morning. |
Monday, May 31, 2:45 p.m.
If someone had told me a few years ago that I'd be sitting in a classroom discussing procurement policies -- and enjoying it -- I wouldn't have believed them. When I worked for the federal government, procurement policies were all about how many bids I had to get on a given product or service, the level at which I had to issue a request for proposals, and so on. There was never any discussion about whether we should consider an employer's labour practices, environmental impact or business model when we were deciding on a contract -- and if we chose a contractor whose bid was higher than other bidders, we had to give a full and detailed justification.
But for co-ops and other social economy enterprises, procurement policies are a key component of a people-centred economy. Over the past several years, we have seen a number of governments and private-sector businesses develop purchasing policies that would exclude, for example, suppliers that use child labour. Or policies relating to the purchase of environmentally-sustainable products. In 2007, Wolfville, Nova Scotia became Canada's first Fair Trade town, when its city council voted to use and promote the purchasing of fair trade products. As of last week, there were 13 Fair Trade towns across Canada -- including Vancouver -- and eight more communities, including Montreal, are in the process of achieving Fair Trade Town status.
The emergence of procurement policies that consider something other than the economic bottom line is welcome news for co-ops and other social enterprises. But these policies tend to be the exception rather than the rule, which is one reason why I -- together with some 40 other Summit participants -- are discussing procurement policies in a workshop entitled "Organizing the Social Economy Marketplace". How do we convince those with purchasing power to buy from co-ops and other social economy businesses? What kind of tools and skills do social economy suppliers need to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there? All of the sudden, procurement policies are actually...interesting!
Monday, May 31, 1:30 p.m.
Before heading for our workshops, we had a networking lunch -- soup, sandwiches and wonderful desserts -- and heard from the second cabinet minister of the day: the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology. As such, he is responsible for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), a federal research funding agency. If you're wondering what this has to do with a people-centred economy, I can give you many reasons -- a million to be exact. A few months ago, SSHRC announced that CCA, together with academic partners from four universities, would receive $1 million over five years to fund research into the economic, social and environmental impact of co-operatives. The project has been named the Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network, and will research a wide range of topics related to co-ops and credit unions, giving us concrete data to help us make the case for co-ops. Thank you, SSHRC and thank you, Minister Goodyear!
Minister Goodyear with some of the participants in the Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network. Left to right: Quintin Fox, CCA; Lou Hammond Ketilson, University of Saskatchewan; John Anderson, CCA; Minister Goodyear; Carmen Charette, SSHRC; Sonja Novkovic, Saint Mary's University.
Monday, May 31, 10:30 a.m.
Is it possible to create a strong, dynamic citizen-based movement at the heart of the Canadian economy? Nancy Neamtan, the first speaker on this morning's "Portrait of the People-Centred Economy" panel, is convinced that it is. In recent years, citizen-based actions have emerged in response to economic crises, food crises and the growing gap between rich and poor. She pointed out that there are a lot of different terms for these activities: social economy, solidarity economy, co-operatives, mutuals, community economic development, community enterprises and so on. But they all share a common reality: they result from community-based undertakings and citizen action, are rooted in local communities, producing goods and services with social goals, they are governed independently from the state and they put people above capital. While the diversity of the movement presents some challenges, she said a citizen-based movement at the heart of the Canadian economy is indeed possible. She concluded by outlining some of the conditions for this movement to flourish, including a common vocabulary and unifying concepts; it needs to be rooted in communities through inclusive and democratic institutions; it needs to link up with other social movements including the labour, women's and environmental movement; and it needs to be part of an international movement.
The second speaker was someone whose work was already well-known to me: Ian MacPherson, professor emeritus of history at the University of Victoria and co-director of the Canadian Social Economy Hub. He was also the author of A Century of Co-operation, CCA's 100th anniversary commemorative book on the history of the Canadian co-op movement. Ian is passionate about research and knowledge, and believes that today's expanded access to knowledge and information provides an excellent opportunity for the development of a people-centred economy.
His conclusion was that research and knowledge "can be harnessed to forge a consistent and strongly founded view of what is needed in the contemporary world and how our most pressing needs can be met. They can provide the intellectual depth and the research validation that makes it possible to access he levers of power and influence."
The third speaker, Latin American union activist Carlos Amorin, focused on the activities of RIPESS, the Inter-continental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy. This is an international social economy movement with members in more than 100 countries...a clear indication that efforts to create a fairer, more sustainable economy go far beyond Canada's borders.
This afternoon, we'll be breaking up into workshop groups on six topics:
- Finance and invesment
- Enterprise development
- Local revitalization
- Organizing the social economy marketplace
- Strengthening the movement for a people-centred economy; and
- Towards a global people-centred economy
Makes me wish I could be in six places at once!
Monday, May 31, 9:30 a.m.
Day 2 of the Summit began with some introductory remarks by Ted Jackson of Carleton University's  School of Public Affairs, followed by a speech by the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who is responsible for the federal Co-operatives Secretariat in his capacity as Minister of State (Agriculture). Minister Blackburn, who was introduced by CCA Executive Director Carol Hunter, focused on the importance of co-operatives in community economic development: "Co-operatives create jobs, provide essential goods & services to communities." He highlighted the United Nations proclamation of 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives and suggested that the co-op movement should be thinking now of what kinds of policy initiatives the government should introduce to create a more favourable environment for co-ops.
Minister Blackburn's strong endorsement of co-ops was very encouraging. And what is also encouraging is that he is the first of four politicians who will be speaking at the Summit. It's clear that in the wake of last year's economic crisis, policy-makers are taking an increased interest in alternative economic models, which is good news for all of us who share the vision of a people-centred economy.
Right: Minister Blackburn with Carol Hunter
Sunday, May 30, 8:30 p.m.
As someone who has worked in both the co-operative movement and the labour movement, I was fascinated with the news in October, 2009, when the United Steelworkers and Mondragon - the largest worker co-op in the world - agreed to work together to establish worker co-ops in the U.S. and Canadian manufacturing sectors. At the time, I wondered how it might work. Can collective bargaining be workable in a company that is owned by the members of the bargaining unit?
According to Ken Delaney of the United Steelworkers and Michael Peck, the North American representative for Mondragon (the world's largest worker co-op), it's not only workable, but it could become an important component of a people-centred economy.
In their presentation, both Delaney and Peck talked about the historical affinity and shared principles which the co-operative and labour movements have in common. What they're proposing is essentially a union/co-op hybrid, that would empower workers through both the principles of co-operation and the collective bargaining process.
At a time when North America's manufacturing sector has been devastated by plant closures and outsourcing, Delaney and Peck's vision is welcome indeed.
 
Sunday nght's keynote speakers: Left: Ken Delaney and Michael Peck; Right: Raj Patel (with MC's Michael Lewis and Denyse Guy)
Sunday, May 30, 7:45 p.m.
Raj Patel is a wonderful writer, but it wasn't until he spoke at the Summit that I realized what an exciting and dynamic speaker he is. His keynote address was a barn-burner (if you can burn a barn without carbon emissions!) covering everything from "the myth of the tragedy of the commons" to Third World debt to violence against women. His presentation was so wide-ranging that it would be difficult to summarize here, but here are a few of the evening's more striking "Patel-isms":
Patel on human nature:
"There is no evidence to support the idea of the tragedy of the commons. People are actually very good at managing resources that nobody owns...We are not just selfish and greedy. In order for us to survive as primates we are selfish but we also have the capacity to be altruistic . Our genes may be selfish but we are not only selfish. When you give communities enough space to manage their economic affairs, they do very well."
Patel on consumption:
"The way that we consume today is unsustainable. Unsustainable and unjust. If we had to pay the social and economic costs of climate change over past 40 years, we would owe developing countries 5 trillion dollars! In perspective, third world debt is 1.8 trillion dollars. We owe developing countries more than twice what they owe us. We need to pay our fair share for the damage we have already caused."
Patel on democracy:
"The democracy we live in isn't really a democracy. A democracy requires constant civic engagement; not just voting then discarding the duties of citizenship...For democracy to work, we need to challenge inequalities of power."
Patel on women's equality:
"There is a link between food sovereignty and violence against women. 60 per cent of people that go hungry are women and girls...The largest subsidy capitalism gets is from unpaid women's work."
Sunday May 30, 6:40 p.m.
 Raj Patel has entered the building! If you don't know Raj Patel, he's the British-born author, professor and activist, now living in the U.S., whose books about sustainable economy and food security have been selling like hotcakes around the world. He's not even 40 (born in 1972, says his bio) and looks even younger, and already his name is becoming a household word, at least in social economy and environmental circles. Patel, who once worked for both the World Trade Organization and the World Bank, has been an outspoken critic of international financial institutions and, according to Wikipedia, claims to have been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against his former employers, It will be interesting to hear what he has to say in his keynote speech tonight.
Raj Patel (r) with CCEDNet Executive Director Michael Toye
Sunday, May 30, 5 p.m.
Two hours before the Summit starts, and already people have begun trickling in. Some have just come from the Canadian CED Network's AGM, which took place this afternoon; others are turning up with suitcases in tow, having just arrived from the airport. Registration is under way; trade fair booths are being set up, and the Raven's Nest (a nice ecologically-friendly name) - normally a gym used for Carleton Ravens basketball games - is set up with more than 50 circular tables covered in white tablecloths. In the front of the room, there are two 14' x 11' plasma screens -- the one on the right-hand side is only partially obsuring the red Carleton Ravens scoreboard and its Coca-Cola logo.
I was delighted to discover that the Summit kit bags are from Common Thread, a Vancouver co-op which repurposes street banners and donated fabric into bags, backpacks, book covers and more. The bags were generously donated by The Co-operators and bear a tag with a Co-operators logo and the words "Sustainability: Taking care of tomorrow --today." The photo on the right shows CCEDNet staffer Matthew Thompson showing off one of the bags at the registration desk.
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