K-Net: An Amazing First Nations Initiative in Tele-health and Online Education

The Social Economy Centre (OISE/UT) Presents

Speakers' Series

Brian Beaton
K-Net Services Coordinator
Brian Walmark
Director of Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Noon – 1:30 pm
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Toronto
Room 12-199

Brian Beaton…is the coordinator of K-Net Services, the telecommunications department of Keewaytinook Okimakanak; a tribal council serving First Nations in Ontario's far north. He will discuss the migration of broadband and the development of applications such as telehealth and digital education through the expansion of the Kuhkenah Network, the largest First Nations-owned and managed broadband network in Canada.

Brian Walmark…is the Director of Research at Keewaytinook Okimakanak, a tribal council serving First Nations in Ontario’s far north. The KO Research Institute (KORI) was created by the Chiefs with a twin mandate, to build research capacity at the community level and to build bridges with like-minded academics who are willing to put the research priorities of the communities first over the institutional imperatives of traditional academic research. Brian will be speaking about several of the research projects that KORI has undertaken as well as the partnerships with academics and graduate students.

Bring your lunch and a mug – Coffee, tea and Water will be provided. For more information, contact Lisa White at secspeaker@oise.utoronto.ca, or visit our website at http://socialeconomy.utoronto.ca

This event will also be webcast live on the Internet.

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$.

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.

Online Articles of Interest

Journal of Gender Studies, Volume 17 Issue 1 2007
One college campus's need for a safe zone: a case study
71 – 74
Authors: Sandy D. Alvarez; Jeffrey Schneider
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a790359447&fulltext=713240928

European Journal of Industrial Relations 2008
Torgeir Aarvaag Stokke
The Anatomy of Two-tier Bargaining Models
14: 7-24

http://ejd.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/1/7

Review of Radical Political Economics, Winter 2008, Volume 40, No. 1
Mara Fridell, Ian Hudson, and Mark Hudson
With Friends Like These: The Corporate Response to Fair Trade Coffee

http://rrp.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/40/1/8

Gender, Work & Organization, Volume 15 Issue 2 Page 202-225, March 2008
'Why Do All the Women Disappear?' Gendering Processes in a Political Science Department
Johanna Kantola

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2007.00376.x

Local Economy, Volume 22 Issue 4 2007
Enterprise, Diversity and Inclusion: A New Model of Community-based Enterprise
Development
Author: Tony Swash
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a788291536~fulltext=713240928

Sociological Spectrum Mid-South Sociological Association, Volume 28 Issue 2 2008
THE FADING DREAM OF RETIREMENT: SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AFFECTING THE RETIREMENT DECISION
Author: John Markert
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a790243300~fulltext=713240928

Gender & Society 2008 22: 31-55
Hava Rachel Gordon
Gendered Paths to Teenage Political Participation: Parental Power, Civic Mobility, and Youth Activism

http://gas.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/22/1/31

Studies in Continuing Education, Volume 30 Issue 1 2008
Theories and methods for research on informal learning and work: towards cross-fertilization
Author: Peter H. Sawchuk
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/ftinterface~content=a790044537~fulltext=713240928

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 51, No. 6, 721-736 (2008)
Understanding the Impact of Homelessness on Children: Challenges and Future Research
Directions
John C. Buckner

http://abs.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/51/6/721

Call for papers - Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC)

ANNUAL MEETING
JUNE 5 - 7, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Cooperative Renewal: Cooperatives in the Twenty-First Century

Cooperatives and theories of cooperation have successfully adjusted to extensive social, economic, and political challenges over the more than a century and a half of since the writings of Robert Owen and others influenced the founding of the Rochdale Cooperative in 1844.

In fact, renewal could be seen to be an essential feature of cooperative study and practice. However, it could also be argued that the combinations of forces confronting cooperatives and theories of cooperation in the twenty-first century pose the most serious challenge yet to their relevance and continued survival. This conference encourages scholars, practitioners, and "fellow travellers" of cooperation to participate in discussing frankly the necessity for, forms of, and challenges to, cooperative renewal as well as the adjustments required (if at all) for cooperation to survive and thrive throughout the upcoming century in Canada and the wider world.

Call for papers is available here: http://www.coopresearch.coop/?page_id=31