VICTORIA – The federal government has promised the Canadian co-operative movement that by next year, it will be governed by new legislation.
Co-op leaders can hardly wait.
They have been lobbying for this for years.
“We will be working very closely with government to see that it is passed next year, before the next election. Absolutely,” said Mary Pat MacKinnon of the Canadian Co-operative Association.
When he announced the government intention to write a new Canada Co-operative Associations Act, agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said one of the goals will be to give co-ops the tools to do more. “With this legislation in place, we’ll see co-ops in a better position to continue to respond to the challenges facing rural communities.”
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MacKinnon said she could not agree more.
“The legislation we have now was passed in 1970. It is cumbersome and outdated,” she said from Ottawa.
George Christidis, an aide to Goodale who has been working on the co-op file, said the details of the changes will be worked out in consultation with co-op leaders. They have been talking for more than three years.
“They have raised the issue that the existing co-op act just doesn’t allow them to reach their potential,” he said.
MacKinnon said the existing law has several problems.
“The present legislation does not provide for good accountability between the board of directors and the co-op membership,” she said. “It sometimes creates a barrier and that is not good.”
She said new capital accumulation rules will give co-operatives more opportunity to expand and diversify.
She said it also will clear the way for federally governed co-operatives to raise money by putting their non-voting shares on public stock exchanges, much as Saskatch-ewan Wheat Pool did earlier this year after a change in provincial governing legislation.
However, if that happens, they would also have to meet rules set out by securities legislation.
