One of the least noticed but fundamentally important features of the various pool annual meetings this fall was a presentation from an organization that one Manitoba pool director called “probably one of the best-kept secrets from our membership.”
The organization was the Canadian Co-operative Association, which sent executive director Nora Sobolov to pool meetings.
The value of grassroots co-operation was dramatically driven home by a video featuring poverty-level South American garbage pickers who dig through urban garbage dumps, searching for salvageable items.
With organizational help from the CCA and others, the garbage pickers set up their own co-op, pooling their salvage efforts and finding new outlets for recyclable items.
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The dumps may be no less filthy because of that co-op, but it has made a difference. The children now go to an educational day-care centre organized by the co-op, instead of having to tag along with their parents to the dump.
With some 40 current projects in 20 countries, Canada’s co-ops have a lot to be proud of as they prepare to mark 50 years of their Co-operative Development Fund, the vehicle for such international assistance.
But, as Sobolov made clear, co-operatives are far more than sources of foreign aid. They are also good business.
Not only do co-operatives serve their members’ interests, she said, but they have great potential for working together for mutual benefit.
Long before private corporations started using the term “strategic alliance,” co-ops were forming such alliances around the world.
Even some aid projects have led to commercial contacts, as international co-ops grow and look for partners in trade or services.
But there is much left to do. As Manitoba director Wilf Harder said, “one of the things that co-operatives do least best is co-operate with one another.”
The national co-op association hopes to do something about that. It’s in the midst of redefining its services to members, with an emphasis on the member co-ops’ request to help them do business and exchange information with one another.
It can be hard to compete with huge national or multinational corporations, with their vast information networks.
A comprehensive co-operative network, however, could do a lot to level the playing field, helping co-ops of all sizes find business opportunities.
That, in turn, would make them stronger and better able to jointly help more people help themselves. Co-operation makes everyone a winner.
