International Year of Co-operatives launches across Canada

By ILSTV Staff on Jan 12, 2012 in Business, Canadian Insurance

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 is the International Year of Co-operatives and today, co-operative and credit union members across the country are kicking off the year-long event.

The theme of the International Year is Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World. The UN held its own launch of the International Year during the General Assembly session in New York on October 31, and several other countries, including the United Kingdom, are planning launch events for January 12.

“Co-operatives are about people, so we wanted to launch the year with events in which many people across the country could participate,” said Claude Gauthier, president of the Canadian Co-operative Association. “This year offers an important opportunity to educate the public – and our own co-op members – about the enormous role co-operatives play in building communities, revitalizing economies and creating jobs here in Canada and around the world.”

Co-operatives have more than a billion members around the world and more than 18 million members in Canada. There are more than 9,000 co-operatives in Canada, with more than 155,000 employees and more than $370 billion in assets

The launch events will take place in the following locations. The listed start times are the local times in each region.

Ottawa (national launch): 11:30 a.m., Fountain Room, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street
Yellowknife, NT: 9:30 a.m., Northern Images Gallery, 4801 Franklin Avenue
Iqaluit, NU: 11:30 a.m., Baffin Room, Frobisher Inn, Astro Hill Complex
Vancouver, BC: 8 a.m., Visitor Centre, Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, 5251 Oak Street
Calgary, AB: 10:15 a.m., Calgary Farmers Market, 510 77th Avenue SE
Regina, SK: 11 a.m., The Bistro/Gard’Amis, 3850 Hillsdale Street
Winnipeg, MB: 11 a.m., Manitoba Legislative Assembly, 450 Broadway
Guelph, ON: 11:30 a.m., flag-raising ceremony at Guelph City Hall, 1 Carden Street; 12:30 p.m., reception at The Co-operators, 130 MacDonnell Street
Lévis, QC: 11:30 a.m., Lévis City Hall, 2175 chemin du Fleuve
Fredericton, NB: 12 noon, Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, 659 Queen Street
Halifax, NS: 12: 30 p.m., The Halifax Club, 1682 Hollis Street
Cheticamp, NS: 1 p.m., La Coopérative Artisanale, 15067 Cabot Trail
Charlottetown, PE: 4 p.m., Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, 75 Kent Street
St. John’s, NL: 5 p.m., Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative, 40 Kings Road