The Modern Co Op Movement, an Interview With Peter Cameron: Part One

Years ago I heard a presentation at a Green Party conference from an organizer with one of the labour unions. He said that it's important for people spreading the word about a problem---like climate change---to not focus exclusively on how bad things are. You might think that this will motivate the citizenry to get involved in changing things for the better. But studies have shown that many---if not most---simply "turn off" and "tune out" if they get too much negative information. That's because after a "critical mass" of bad news comes in people just begin to think that nothing can be done and it's better to just stop paying attention. 

The antidote---according to this fellow---is to articulate a vision of a better world and show a road map that describes how to get from here to there. My last "deep dig" series was about addictions of various sorts and how naked greed by various businesses and the political parties they support have managed to create hordes of wretched people. By the end of it, even I was myself beginning to think "what is the point of even trying?" As an antidote, this article is about one of those better alternative futures that the labour organizer was talking about with one of the people working to show all of us how to get there.

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First, a little introduction about co-ops. Here's an excellent, short, animated introduction to the history and theory of co-operatives from their beginning in 19th century Britain.

 

Now a little about Peter Cameron. He was one of the founders of the Ontario Public Interest Group (OPIRG) at the University of Guelph, and worked there full time during most of my time as a student there. He now works for the Ontario Co-operative Association (OCA) as its Co-operative Development Manager. In the first part of my interview he explains what exactly he does.

  

Cloudwalking Owl · What Does Peter Do?

For those of you who are interested, here's a link to the latest version of the Co-operative Corporations Act of Ontario. As for looking through to find out exactly what changes Peter is referring to, here's a statement from an Ontario government website that lists them:

    1.  The Minister for the purposes of the Act is changed from the Minister of Finance to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services.

    2.  Currently, the Act restricts a co-operative from conducting 50 per cent or more of its business with non-members of that co-operative. The Act is amended to remove this restriction, provided that the co-operative’s articles of incorporation or by-laws authorize it to conduct 50 per cent or more of its business with non-members.

    3.  The Act is amended such that the functions relating to offering statements currently attributed to the Minister are attributed to the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.

    4.  Provisions requiring that a co-operative file certain statements with the Minister are repealed.

    5.  The conditions that must be met for a co-operative to be exempt from certain audit provisions in the Act are amended.

    6.  The Act is amended to provide that at least 75 per cent of permanent full-time employees and 75 per cent of all employees must be members of a co-operative whose articles provide that its primary object is to provide employment to its members, subject to a different proportion being prescribed by regulation.

Cloudwalking Owl · A Co Op Of Co Ops

Here's a picture of a past Co-operative Young Leaders Camp. I'm not the best person to comment about what "works" for young people, but I'm certainly of the mind that it's a very good idea to help the ones that are interested in building a new tomorrow to learn the skills necessary to make it happen. 

One summer's worth of dirty future co-op leaders!

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Time to ask for money! I know lots of people are suffering during this "plague year", but if you can afford it, why not subscribe? It's a lot of work to create this blog, but there are added expenses too. I try to use second-hand, open source, etc, as much as possible. But sometimes you just have to spend money to do a good job. To that end, I've broken down and purchased a decent microphone so I can do a better job of recording things. I found a deal, but it still cost me $80. So why not put some money in the kitty to offset it? It's easy using Patreon or Pay Pal. 

One added thought. Lots of offices and institutions used to buy newspaper subscriptions. If you read this blog, why not consider buying a subscription for your non-profit, office, union, department, etc? I suspect more than anything else, it's just because you've never thought to do so. Well, here's your reminder---. 

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I had a problem with sound quality at the beginning of the following snippet, so I did a rather abrupt edit. Just to set up the question, a few months back I was approached by a fellow who runs a successful business but was interested in creating a local on-line journalism venture. He was concerned about various issues that I thought could be dealt with through the co-operative business structure. I brought in Peter and asked him to explain what this could do to help him. I was kinda surprised by how little he knew about co-ops, but as you hear Mr. Cameron explain, this is very common with many people of his generation, even the ones that are very committed to the social enterprise ideal.

Cloudwalking Owl · Social Enterprise Vs Co Op

If anyone would like to learn a bit more about the "B Corps" that Peter refers to, I'd direct your attention to the second half of an interview I did with Mike Schreiner where I delve a bit into the idea. I suppose the most famous B Corp in Guelph is the business that own the Woolwich Arms pub at the corner of Yarmouth and Woolwich.  

 

Cloudwalking Owl · Different Types Of Co Ops

Here's a nice graphic of the seven principles that Peter mentioned. I looked around the web and found them on co-op websites from all over the world, this one comes from "cooperative.com", which is a website for American electricity generation co-ops. (Click on the graphic to get a better image.) 

 

The following flow chart (it's a slide from a presentation at a co-op conference in Burlington Vermont) explains the structure of a multi-stakeholder co-op. The "members" of the co-op have been expanded to include all the rest of the people who have an interest in the business: suppliers, share-holders, buyers, and, employees. All of them get to elect people who sit on the board of directors, who set the policy of the group and hire the Chief Administrative Officer, who then hires the rest of the managers, who control the day-to-day operation of the company. Everyone affected by the co-ops decisions, therefore, is involved when they are made.

That's enough for one story. I'll deal with the rest of the interview in a future post.

Please remember to wear a mask, keep your distance, shop local, and, be nice to one another. The vaccines are on their way. But there is still a long way to go before we can enter a post pandemic planet. 

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Moreover I say unto you, the Climate Emergency must be dealt with!