{"id":246542,"date":"2025-03-10T13:47:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T17:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/?p=246542"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:58:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T19:58:49","slug":"dans-co-op-adventures-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/dans-co-op-adventures-february-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan’s Co-op Adventures February 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exploring Co-operative Initiatives in Quebec<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling to the Sollio Cooperative Group<\/a> AGM provided a valuable opportunity to engage with co-operative leaders and initiatives, strengthening awareness and relationships within the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first stop was a meeting with Mariam Coulibaly, Executive Director of Startop<\/a>, a social enterprise incubator for women based in Montreal\u2019s Cit\u00e9-des-Hospitali\u00e8res. This former monastery, acquired by the city in 2017, now serves as a hub for civil society organizations. Discussions covered the CMC map<\/a>, the role of expert-service providers<\/a>, and international co-op development. Additionally, Dan Brunette discovered that Mariam also serves as president of the Coop\u00e9rative d\u2019habitation d\u2019union mutuelle, one of Canada\u2019s smallest housing co-ops, established in 1985. Its members take pride in their affiliation with the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration de l\u2019habitation coop\u00e9rative du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a> (FHCQ) and their innovative housing solutions.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Next was a discussion with Fran\u00e7ois Allaire, Director of Strategic Development at Le Consortium de coop\u00e9ration des entreprises collectives<\/a>, a CMC member. This non-profit co-operative acts as a shared services center for co-operatives, mutuals, and non-profits, offering expertise in accounting, legal, HR, project management, strategic development, and training. With nearly 80 professionals spanning over 20 fields, the Consortium plays a vital role in strengthening the movement.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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In line with CMC\u2019s federal advocacy priorities, Dan met with Gabrielle Fallu, Head of Public and Government Relations at Exceldor Cooperative<\/a>. Exceldor, a staunch advocate for the Tax-deferred Co-operative Share Program for agricultural co-operatives<\/a>, has 365 member-owners and a legacy dating back to 1945. It expanded westward in 2019 through a merger with Manitoba-based Granny\u2019s Poultry Co-operative. Today, Exceldor markets products under the Exceldor, Granny\u2019s, Butterball, and Saha Halal brands. A leader in corporate social responsibility, it donates 12,000 kilograms (120,000 portions) of poultry monthly to the Quebec Food Bank Network.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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While in L\u00e9vis, Dan also met Isabelle Gagn\u00e9, Director of Communications and Associative Life at the Conseil qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois de la coop\u00e9ration et de la mutualit\u00e9<\/a> (CQCM). Established in 1940, CQCM has been instrumental in positioning Quebec as Canada\u2019s leading co-operative environment. In 2021, Isabelle spearheaded the ongoing \u201cEffet COOP | Mutualist Effect\u201d promotional campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Taking the scenic route home, Dan visited Co-op Agri-Energie Warwick<\/a>, Quebec\u2019s first agricultural co-operative dedicated to renewable energy. Developed and operated by Coop Carbone<\/a>, it produces 2.3 million m\u00b3 of renewable natural gas (RNG) from dairy cattle manure and organic waste, generating additional revenue for 12 farm members while reducing CO2<\/sub> emissions by 6,500 tonnes annually.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A stop in Richmond, Quebec, led to L\u2019Ardoise, Coop\u00e9rative Brassicole<\/a>, a microbrewery and bistro founded in 2021 by three friends. Named after the area\u2019s slate-quarrying history, L\u2019Ardoise serves the town\u2019s 3,200 residents and surrounding communities. It is one of 23 microbrewery co-operatives<\/a> in Canada. Pictured are proud founding members Eric Cardinal and Fran\u00e7ois Forcier.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Finally, in the village of Racine, Dan visited La Brunante, Coop\u00e9rative de solidarit\u00e9 en habitation, CMC\u2019s 2022 Small Co-operative of the Year.<\/a> Founding President Gaston Michaud provided a tour and shared its history as Canada\u2019s first multi-stakeholder housing co-op. A member of the Conf\u00e9d\u00e9ration qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise des coop\u00e9ratives d\u2019habitation<\/a> (CQCH), La Brunante was created as a community-driven solution to provide local seniors with housing that enables them to remain in the village they call home.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exploring Co-operative Initiatives in Quebec Traveling to the Sollio Cooperative Group AGM provided a valuable opportunity to engage with co-operative leaders and initiatives, strengthening awareness and relationships within the sector. The first stop was a meeting with Mariam Coulibaly, Executive Director of Startop, a social enterprise incubator for women based in Montreal\u2019s Cit\u00e9-des-Hospitali\u00e8res. This former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":246571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[609],"class_list":["post-246542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-co-operatives-in-quebec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246542"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246623,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246542\/revisions\/246623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}