The Summit is pleased to be able to count on the support of two partners from the financial sector that are responsible for helping many communities in Western Canada thrive. According to Stéphane Bertrand, Executive Director of the 2012 Summit, “These key partners will bring a valuable perspective to the Summit discussions, due to the nature of their missions and the scope of their activities, as well as their expertise and in-depth knowledge of the realities of cooperative ...

Don McGinn's Uprising Breads Bakery started as a workers' cooperative back in the heady, hippie days of the 1970s. McGinn himself was a longhaired co-op member in the 1980s, slicing bread or driving a truck for equal pay, as the day's job rotation demanded. Little did he know that 25 years later, the co-op would be gone and he would have not only shepherded the bakery through growth and transition, but also nudged the little east Vancouver icon into Vancouver's trendy west side. Back in the ...

By Fawzia Sheikh TORONTO, Dec 12 (IPS) - Canadian cooperatives may grow as the global Occupy movement raises the profile of their business model through boosting interest in credit unions over traditional banks, but uncertainty remains about the degree to which the two camps will join forces from here on. While the cooperative sector understands that the international Occupy trend illustrates a 'huge appetite' for an alternative to the economic and social status quo, it is unclear to ...