We like democracy in government so much, maybe we’re ready to embrace more democracy in the marketplace.
A first-ever
conference of GTA co-ops coming up next month will explore how cooperatives and credit unions in sectors ranging from housing and finance to food and energy can work more closely together to provide more democratic alternatives for consumers, workers and communities.
“What cooperatives are about may be the economic model we most need in the 21
st century with income disparity and the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few people,” says Larry Gordon, regional manager of the Ontario Co-operative Association. “People are going to be more interested in making sure the way we organize our economy is more accountable to society, and does a better job of meeting the needs of people.”
An idea that caught on back to the Great Depression, co-ops let consumers, workers or other stakeholders own part of an enterprise and participate in decision-making. Although Ontario lags behind provinces like Quebec and Saskatchewan, there are more than 1,300 co-ops here, about 500 in the GTA. While many Torontonians are familiar with the housing co-op system, they may be less familiar with member-owned institutions like credit unions and worker-owned retail co-ops.
Gordon says the one-day conference will allow participants to break down the walls between sectors to find new ways to work together. For example, maybe a housing co-op can find a better way to partner with a worker’s co-op that does green-building retrofitting. Attendees will also learn about emerging co-op trends in organic food and energy. With co-ops like
Solar Share, for example, members buy bonds to raise capital for investments in solar power so they earn interest while creating more green energy options.
Along with shared ideas and a shared sense of purpose, Gordon is hoping the conference will ultimately produce a GTA co-op network that will help attendees continue their conference collaborations.
Writer: Paul Gallant
Source: Larry Gordon