The Social Economy in the News

August 20th, 2007

Rebooting Canada's Approach to E-waste
A bright idea to shrink the digital divide, and Third World landfills.
David Repa and Ifny Lachance, along with the rest of the folks at Free Geek Vancouver, want to give you a free computer. All it will cost to participate in their "adoption program" is 24 volunteer hours. During that time you will help to refurbish six computers, five of which they'll give away to low-income people.

August 8th, 2007

Report could determine fate of Maritime beef plant
The future of beef farming in the Maritimes may hinge on a consultant's report now being prepared for the governments of the three Maritime provinces. 'We want to be confident that the plant has a sustainable and profitable future.'— N.S. Agriculture Minister Brooke Taylor. There is only one major beef processing plant in the Maritimes, in Albany, P.E.I., near the Confederation Bridge.

August 7th, 2007

African, Asian Leaders Seek New Solutions to Old Problem of Poverty, Unemployment
African, Asian and Caribbean leaders pledged Tuesday to provide millions of people with wider access to education, land and loans in some of the world's poorest nations.

July 30th, 2007 - News

Community Economic Development: Moving out of the margins
hen compared with other countries, Canada regularly fares very well.

July 25th & 26th, 2007

IDRC and SSHRC to support joint work by Canadian and developing country researchers
Social science and humanities expertise to be harnessed for international impact
Canada’s International Development Research Centre and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council signed an agreement today to invest up to $6.27 million over the next six years to support international research alliances.

July 24th, 2007

Radical Finns Persevere off B.C. Coast
Few British Columbians know about Malcolm Island. It sits off northern Vancouver Island, a 20-minute ferry ride from Port McNeill. The population of the island is currently between 750 and 800, and has rarely been over 1000. It has always attracted minorities: left-wing Finns, American draft dodgers, even Vietnamese salal harvesters. The island has few resources. Logging and fishing bring in far less money than they used to. Young families can't find work.

July 19th - 23rd, 2007

Mandela unveils 'council of elders'
Nelson Mandela has marked his 89th birthday by forming a "council of elders" dedicated to finding new ways to resolve some of the world's longest-running crises. The former South African president launched his fellow elder statesmen on a new venture to foster peace, reduce conflict and despair during a birthday celebration on Wednesday. Among them are Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, Jimmy Carter, the former US president and Desmond Tutu, the retired South African archbishop.

July 18th, 2007

Kayaks in Kugaaruk
Efforts are being made to bring tourists to Kugaaruk, according to Loy Lacson, community economic development officer. The community's economic development office is preparing to hold a kayak building, traditional sewing, and carving workshop this August, she said. Elders will teach community members how to build a kayak out of seal skin and sew it traditionally using a thread made from caribou, said Lacson.

July 12th, 2007

Kivalliq has potential say business scholars
From: Northern News Services, Wednesday, July 11, 2007

A group of scholars were in Rankin Inlet the week of June 25 as part of a study to find out about doing business in the North. Aldene Meis Mason, a doctoral student at the University of Regina, is studying the use of caribou in commerce in three different Inuit regions, one of them being Rankin Inlet and Coral Harbour. "I'm trying to get an understanding of the context, of what it means to be a community here," said Mason.

July 11th, 2007

RCMP, U.S. Army block public forum on the Security and Prosperity Partnership
The Council of Canadians has been told it will not be allowed to rent a municipal community centre for a public forum it had planned to coincide with the next Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) summit in Montebello, Quebec on August 20 and 21. The Municipality of Papineauville, which is about six kilometres from Montebello, has informed the Council of Canadians that the RCMP, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the U.S.

July 10th, 2007

Vancity names Vrooman as CEO: Deputy minister of finance replaces Dave Mowat
Tamara Vrooman, who served for the past three years as B.C.'s deputy minister of finance, has been appointed Vancity's new chief executive officer, the credit union announced Monday. The 39-year-old Vrooman replaces Dave Mowat, who served as CEO for seven years and recently joined ATB Financial in Alberta as president and CEO.

July 9th, 2007

Social efforts gone south
Capital Ideas
It wouldn’t be fair to say Victoria’s efforts to deal with the unholy trinity of homelessness, drug addiction and street-level crime have been all talk and no action. But I think most seasoned observers would agree the amount of talk has far outstripped the amount of action on these issues. I’m thinking specifically of Rev.

July 5th, 2007

Dream runs out of fuel: Seaway Valley co-op's plans for ethanol plant dead
Once trumpeted as the means to give Eastern Ontario farmers a piece of the corn-processing action, a $70 million ethanol production plant proposed for Cornwall is dead. Blaming the outcome partly on a commercial ethanol industry which "worked feverishly to keep us out of business," Seaway Valley Farmers Energy Co-Operative is shutting down afte r 14 topsy-turvy years since the plan was first introduced.

July 4th, 2007

Volunteering is icing on cake for retiring execs
There are a lot of ways retiring executives can put a final exclamation point on their careers. But probably none is quite so challenging as working with Canadian Executive Services Overseas, a 40-year-old non-profit agency that gives businesspeople the chance to volunteer in developing countries.

July 3rd, 2007

Biofuels: The Five Myths of the Agro-fuels Transition
Biofuels. The term invokes a life-giving image of renewability and abundance—a clean, green, sustainable assurance in technology and the power of progress. This image allows industry, politicians, the World Bank, the United Nations, and even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to present fuels made from corn, sugarcane, soy and other crops as the next step in a smooth transition from peak oil to a yet-to-be-defined renewable fuel economy.

June 28th, 2007 - News

Canadian workers’ paycheques in 30-year holding pattern : Study
Canadians are working harder and smarter, contributing to a growing economy, but their paycheques have been stagnant for the past 30 years, says a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

June 21st, 2007

Aboriginals at the margins
A scathing report on the condition of Aboriginal peoples had sparked interest in sweeping reforms aimed at restoring social norms and economic productivity to Aboriginal communities. An inquiry headed up by a former director of public prosecutions, Rex Wild, and an Aboriginal health worker, Pat Anderson, reported on conditions of material poverty and social breakdown that are well known, but it was the rampant child sexual abuse that made headlines here.

June 20th, 2007

Can Vancouver Fend off Olympics Sweatshops?
China's abuses 'a warning bell' for 2010.

Imagine being a 13-year-old girl in a factory. You're forced to work 12 or more hours a day, sometimes seven days a week in a clamorous space full of dangerous equipment and dirty air. You could lose three days' pay for too much time in the bathroom, you are paid less than half the legal minimum wage in your country. The work can leave your hands bleeding, your throat and lungs full of fibre, filth and lint.

June 18th, 2007 - News

Buying from social enterprises simple, effective and positive
What if I told you there was a way for the city of Vancouver to address its pressing social issues without raising taxes? And what if I added that it would have a nominal effect on the city budget?
It's quite simple.
The city purchases just about everything imaginable, from paper clips and dish towels to trucks and catering.

June 6th, 2007

Battered binner staying off the streets: Street alcoholic suffers multiple injuries after attack by assailant in Topaz Park
Beetlejuice is more sober than he's been for 30 years. But he's also nursing a few broken bones and will probably be out of the only official job he has been offered for decades. William Hay, 50, a.k.a.