Screenings: Threads of Wrath: Stirring the Fibres of Fairness

Threads of Wrath: Stirring the Fibres of Fairness, is a documentary on different conceptions of fairness in the cotton trade in Burkina Faso, a small French speaking country of West-Africa. It focuses on the daily interaction between cotton producers and the SOFITEX, a large state company with a regional buying monopoly, and puts it side by side with different Western conceptions of trade justice. Come out to learn how 6-month payment delays and quality control corruption in the fields relate to the growing and popular Fair Trade movement!

There will be THREE screenings of the film:
- May 16th from 7-9pm
- May 17th from 7-9pm
- May 25th from 4-6pm

at the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Road (just south of Dundas), in the Alterna Room on the 4th floor. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Émanuèle Lapierre-Fortin, a recent U of T graduate who spent 10 months working in Community Economic Development in Burkina Faso and wrote her honours thesis on Fair Trade Cotton. Freshly roasted fair trade coffee (the best you'd ever have!) and samosas will also be served!

This event is a fundraiser to support the efforts of the Trade Justice Education Network, which engages high school students and community groups in issues of trade justice and encourages them to take meaningful action. The suggested donation is 10-20$.

PILOT PROGRAM HOPES TO ENCOURAGE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN GTA

The Centre for Social Innovation and BC-based Enterprising Non-Profits (ENP) have officially launched ENP-Toronto—a pilot program to spark and support social enterprise in the Greater Toronto Area. The Enterprising Non-Profits Program provides matching grants of up to $10,000 to non-profit organizations that are exploring the development of business activities (social enterprises) for the dual purpose of generating revenue and furthering their mission. This funding will allow non-profits to access the technical assistance they need at any stage along the social enterprise development path, from idea exploration and development to project launch and growth. Organizers will be hosting social enterprise workshops and ENP-TO orientation sessions in spring and fall 2008. To join our mailing list for further announcements, including the call for proposals, visit www.socialinnovation.ca/enp

A number of co-ops and related organizations are listed among the project’s funders including Alterna Savings, Carrot Common, Citizen’s Bank and The Co-operators Group.

Not-for-Profit Corporations Law Reform

CORPORATE LAW MODERNIZATION -
Sector weighs in
From: Canadian FundRaiser eNews, March 15, 2008, Article 4
http://www.canadianfundraiser.com/newsletter/article.asp?ArticleID=2578&ClientID=20032

The Ontario government, or its Government Services ministry, cannot complain there was no response to its request for input from the sector on the directions it should take in modernizing governance of the voluntary sector (CF August 15, 2007).

The bureaucrats are now dealing with two large missives from The National Sector Task Force on Not-for-Profit Corporations Law Reform – a co-operative effort of Imagine Canada and the Charities Bar – and a brief from the Ontario Nonprofit Network Expert Working Group.

All three documents are lengthy, technical and detailed in their recommendations, but essentially agree in their overall recommendation that Ontario needs a separate law governing the operation of nonprofit corporations.

As the National Sector Task Force puts it: “The Task Force recommends passage of a new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. It should be an organizational statute drafted as companion legislation to the Ontario Business Corporations Act. These two statutes should be harmonized, except where there is a clear and compelling case for different measures.”

With a similar approach, the Ontario Nonprofit Network notes: “We believe a dedicated Not-for-Profit Corporations Act is needed. The revised act should focus exclusively on incorporation of not-for-profit and mutual benefit organizations that have public benefit objects.”

As background for its many detailed recommendations and the over-riding major one that a new act should be drafted to govern not-for-profit corporations, the National Sector Task Force notes in its Executive Summary to the second submission that the Ontario Corporations Act was first enacted in 1907 and updated in 1953. Since then, the scope of the act has been substantially reduced as a variety of acts detailing with specific business areas were carved out of it, and then in 1971 the Ontario Business Corporations Act was created.

Not updated

“As business and other types of corporations were modernized through new statutes, the OCA came to govern largely not-for-profit corporations,” says the Task Force. “While other corporate statutes were further updated and modernized, including the OBCA in 2007, the OCA was not. The OCA can no longer be considered effective framework legislation for Ontario’s nonprofit corporations.”

The OCA provides the statutory framework for creation, governance and dissolution of not-for-profit and charitable corporations in the province, it points out, prescribing a corporate structure and organizational model under the supervision of a board of directors of each organization.

However, it agrees with the government that the legislation is overdue for wholesale review, and to that end brings forward 27 recommendations in response to the seven issues raised in the government’s second of three consultation papers.

For the complete submissions: www.imaginecanada.ca/files/en/publicaffairs/mgs_ontario_submission1_20080215.pdf; www.imaginecanada.ca/files/en/publicaffairs/mgs_ontario_submission2_20080215.pdf; www.lynneakin.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/revising_corp_act.pdf.

Social Economy Centre Meets with the Honorable Kathleen Wynne, Minister of Education of Ontario, to Discuss the Social Economy in High School Textbook

On March 28, 2008, Social Economy Centre members Jack Quarter, Laurie Mook, Daniel Schugurensky, Jan Haskings-Winner and Denyse Guy along with Andre Brisebois of Conseil de la Cooperation de l'Ontario (CCO) & Tanya Gracie of the Ontario Co-operative Association met with Ontario Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne to talk about the presence of the social economy in high school curricula and textbooks. The presentation was based on two studies conducted in 1995 and 2005 on this topic. The two studies found that the social economy has a significant presence in Canada and Ontario, but such presence was under-represented significantly in curricula and textbooks. The Social Economy Centre expressed concerns about this situation, and asked that in the next curricula revisions this matter will be addressed. The Minister planned to follow up with her staff and her office will get back to us regarding the next steps.

Announcing the first ever searchable database of Ontario co-ops, credit unions and caisses populaires

On Co-op launches first-ever online and searchable directory of co-ops, credit unions and caisses populaires operating in Ontario. We're calling it the e-directory.

Check it out at http://www.coopsontario.com .

The e-directory is publicly accessible and fully searchable by name, city, keyword and postal code. It features basic contact information and detailed descriptions. A handy feature is the ability to display a Google map for each location. E-mail addresses are never revealed, which helps eliminate spamming - instead a contact window appears, and a security code must be entered.

Government, the public and academics can use the e-directory to see what co-ops are in their community, what products or services are provided by co-ops, and to contact a co-op if they choose. The co-op sector, credit union system and co-operative champions can use the e-directory to find out more about their "co-op cousins".

We recommend every co-op, credit union and caisse populaire check its own listing as soon as possible, as well as search for other co-ops by city, keyword or name to understand how the e-directory works. We anticipate the directory will very quickly evolve into a central hub for accessing co-op information and we would like to ensure the best possible experience for anyone looking for co-op information.

*** PLEASE CHECK YOUR LISTING(s) FOR...

1. Contact information. Are the correct co-op name, address, phone (local and toll-free) and fax numbers displayed? Check to make sure the e-mail address and website links are valid and go to the correct person/department in your organization. Verify that the Google mapping function correctly identifies your address. If you have more than one location, check each one for accuracy.

2. Description. The keyword search looks here, as well as at your name. Words core to your business should be here (examples - fair trade, banking services, organic, dairy, housing, energy, child care, etc). This isn't a listing of all of your products, but allows people who view the description a useful glimpse into your business. The description field is 50 words maximum and must be in sentence/paragraph format.

3. Category. Confirm that your organization is listed in the correct category(s).

UPDATING THE INFORMATION...

1. INCOMPLETE, MISSING OR INCORRECT INFORMATION; ORGANIZATION NOT LISTED (INCLUDING MAIN, BRANCH OR SATELLITE OFFICES); OR ORGANIZATION TO BE REMOVED FROM THE LISTING: Click on the "Contact Us" button. One of the choices available from that screen is to update your information. Please provide us with all the details, including what should be changed. We will receive the message, confirm the information and make the changes to our database, generally within 1-2 business days. On Co-op has an e-directory review board to review each addition/deletion/change before it is uploaded to the e-directory to ensure we are adding the correct information.

2. If you have questions or suggestions about the e-directory program/interface itself, send your thoughts to us using the "Contact Us" button. We will continue to enhance the look and functionality of the e-directory over the next few weeks, and your input is important.

3. Where did the information initially come from? We've been updating our records for the last few months, and been checking other publicly available sources to make sure we haven't missed listing any co-operative, credit union or caisse populaire that is based in, or operates in, Ontario. IF WE HAVE, PLEASE LET US KNOW!!

On Co-op has created, and will operate and maintain the e-directory. As each co-op reviews and updates its information, the e-directory will become larger and even more accurate. Remember that there is no one organization or government agency in Ontario that has ever compiled this type of information on ALL of Ontario's co-operatives, credit unions and caisses populaires in one place before.

SPREAD THE WORD...

• Please forward this e-mail to others in your networks, and include the information in your print and electronic communications. The more people and organizations that know about the e-directory, the larger and more accurate it can become.

• Associations, federations and alliances are encouraged to send this message to all of their members so that as many individuals and organizations as possible can verify the directory information. If you operate an intranet, blog or RSS feed, consider placing a link to the e-directory there.

• Please include a link to the e-directory on your website (perhaps on your home page or co-op contacts/links page). You may use this text, or feel free to create your own:

Ontario is home to more than 1,300 credit unions, caisses populaires and co-operatives, operating in over 1,900 locations throughout the province. The Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) maintains a searchable electronic database of Ontario's co-operatives, credit unions and caisses populaires at www.coopsontario.com.

NEXT STEPS

The co-op sector will have about a week to review and verify the information before the information goes to the media. We will be sending a press release to all major media, scheduled for the week of March 17th. At that time, we expect a great deal of interest from the public, including academics, government and others.

Visit www.coopsontario.com to access the e-directory. Please review your listing as soon as you can.

** Please forward to others in your network... including your board, staff, committee members, champions, supporters and friends. Co-operative information is best shared! If this message didn't come directly from On Co-op, you may be added to our e-newsletter distribution list by sending your contact information to Mark Ventry mventry@ontario.coop If you'd like to receive our printed mailings (sent January and September), please send us your mailing address.