A national organization that speaks for the entire country will be 
an enormous benefit, says Canadian Co-operative Association president
Canada’s co-operative political structure is undergoing its most radical change in more than a century as English and French-speaking co-op organizations join into a national organization.
Prairie co-op leaders will be at the forefront of managing the transformation, including newly elected Canadian Co-operative Association president Bill Dobson, a farmer from Paradise Valley, Alta., who is also a former Wild Rose Agricultural Producers president and chair of the United Farmers of Alberta governance committee.
Sandy Wallace from Manitoba and Clint MacDonald from Federated Co-operatives Ltd. in Saskatchewan are also on the CCA board that will oversee the transition.
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Delegates attending a recent national co-operatives meeting in Edmonton voted to launch the new organization no sooner than early next year. It has been debated as a contentious issue for years.
The Canadian Co-operative Association and the Association des Coopératives du Canada will merge to form Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada.
The CCA will remain as the organization’s branch responsible for international co-op development projects.
“The decision is considered historic because it brings together English and French-speaking co-operators who have been largely divided along linguistic lines since the birth of the Canadian co-operative movement in the 19th century,” the organizations said in a statement after the meeting.
Dobson said the organization will not be a merger but a new entity.
“I really think it will make the movement stronger because we will speak with one voice in both languages, and that will give us more political clout,” he said.
The English and French co-op organizations did not always communicate well and sometimes took contradictory political positions.
“There is nothing a politician likes better than divergent voices so they don’t have to do anything or can pick and choose,” Dobson said.
“I think this will make the movement stronger.”
The decision follows the United Nations-declared Year of the Co-operative, which featured an international conference in Canada, creation of a special House of Commons committee on co-operative issues and a decision by the federal government to move responsibility for the sector from Agriculture Canada to Industry Canada.
Dobson, a longtime UFA activist, said the recent focus on the co-operative model has made more policy makers aware of its potential for domestic and international development.
“I think there is a growing awareness of this, and having a national organization that covers the entire country will be an enormous benefit,” he said.
“This next year will be a transitional time for us and we will come out better.”
