Entrepreneurs with ethical fibre
Sidney Ribaux has been an activist since his CEGEP days when he started up an aluminum recycling program. He now heads up Equiterre, a Quebec-based environmental and fair trade group. Michel Venne also got his feet wet in social causes during his student days, then had a long career as a journalist at Le Devoir.

Letter to the fair trade movement
I’ve been thinking about writing this letter for a while. And, recently, I’ve been thinking about walking away from the fair trade movement. The thought still crosses my mind from time-to-time. I first came across the idea of fair trade when Just Us! Coffee Roasters Coop opened a cafe and roastery in a small converted house in New Minas, Nova Scotia in 1995.

Metro Filipinos ship rice to families back home
Gift packages from Canadian residents ease shortages in homeland

Filipino expatriates and, in particular, workers who go abroad seeking employment, are famed for remitting significant cash earnings to support their families back home.

'Little hardware store that could' closer to reopening
After a year without their neighbourhood landmark, a group of former customers are on the verge of reopening an 85-year-old hardware store in Winnipeg's North End. Since Pollock Hardware closed last year, residents and customers have been trying to raise enough money to buy the store and operate it as a co-op.

A Healthy Alternative
It seems everyone has a gripe about our medical system these days. Wait lists are too long, alternative treatments aren’t given legitimate recognition, too much effort is placed on cures and not enough on prevention . . . the list goes on. But in Victoria, a group of physicians, health practitioners and community-minded folks have come together to lay the foundations for the city’s first health cooperative, which will be having an open house this Saturday afternoon.

Farmers facing many challenges
Thirty-two years ago, Chittagong University economics professor, Mohammed Yunus asked Sufiya Khatun why she could not make a living constructing and selling her bamboo stools, which he saw were excellent. She replied that she must borrow for the cost of materials from the person who bought the finished stools, with the end result that she earned two cents a day.

Fondation Desjardins Launches Call for Candidates for 33rd Desjardins Annual Prizes
Fondation Desjardins invites organizations involved in social, economic and community development to send in their applications for the 33rd edition of the Desjardins Annual Prizes. Six prizes of $5,000 each will be awarded to social and community organizations that are members of Desjardins caisses in Québec, caisses/branches in Ontario or caisses populaires in New Brunswick or Manitoba.

Gov't won't neglect inner-city needs despite Station 20 decision: Wall
Premier Brad Wall is promising to spend more money in Saskatoon's inner city despite his government's decision to pull funding to build a new multi-purpose centre in the area. "No one should doubt the resolve of this premier and this government to help those in the inner city deal with the issues that they face," said Wall at the Saskatchewan Party's annual leader's dinner in Saskatoon on Tuesday.

Gastropub serves over 27,000 in first 124 days
One of the founders of The Port gastropub in Port Williams says they’re amazed at the overwhelming response to the establishment. Director Allen Sheito said they welcomed 27,409 clients in their first 124 days of operation, which far exceeded expectations.

Good ol' fashioned rock 'n' roll
Local label Transistor 66 and co-op record store/print shop War on Music are set to release a split seven-inch single featuring Peg City rawkers Hot Live Guys and T-Dot heavyweights C'mon. That's right, vinyl. Oh, how the tables have turned. Ironically, with the digital audio player threatening the compact disc's very existence, it's been the age-old technology of the gramophone record that's enjoying a bit of resurgence.