{"id":247238,"date":"2025-05-27T14:52:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T18:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/?p=247238"},"modified":"2025-05-27T17:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T21:56:14","slug":"dans-adventures-in-st-johns-bromont-and-montreal-may-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/dans-adventures-in-st-johns-bromont-and-montreal-may-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan’s Eastern Canada Adventures\u00a0 – May 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On May 5, during the Community Futures Network Canada (CFNC)<\/a> Conference in St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland and Labrador, CMC\u2019s Senior Director of External Affairs, Dan Brunette, visited the Co-operatives First booth and connected with fellow speaker Kyle White, Director of Education, and panel moderator Ryley Hawkeswood, Community Engagement Coordinator. Co-operatives First<\/a>, a co-operative development organization focused on rural and Indigenous communities across Western Canada, is supported by the Co-operative Retailing System<\/a> and Federated Co-operatives Limited<\/a>. The organization recently celebrated a significant milestone\u2014helping to launch over 125 new co-ops. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n


While at the CFNC<\/a> Conference, Dan also met with Tori Williamson, Chief Operating Officer at Buy Social Canada (BSC)<\/a>. A longstanding partner of CMC and a leader in social procurement, BSC works to build healthier communities by shifting how goods and services are bought and sold. Among their contributions to the co-operative sector is Using the Power of Purchasing: A Simple Guide to Co-op Procurement<\/a><\/em>, developed in collaboration with CMC.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On May 6, Dan was joined by Kristen Murray from the Newfoundland-Labrador Federation of Co-operatives (NLFC)<\/a> and Kyle White from Co-operatives First<\/a> to present a session titled \u201cCo-operatives and Community-Led Economic Development\u201d as part of the CFNC national conference programming. The event, held every three years, brought together approximately 900 participants representing the network of 267 federally funded, volunteer-led community economic development offices. <\/p>\n<\/div>

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On May 7, at the invitation of NLFC<\/a>, Dan and Ryley, along with Kyle White\u2014a native of Newfoundland and Labrador now working in the Prairies\u2014participated in a networking session with leaders of several St. John\u2019s-area co-operatives. The gathering provided an excellent opportunity to exchange stories, discuss common challenges, and explore future collaboration. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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On May 14 and 15, Dan represented CMC at the Sommet de l\u2019\u00e9conomie sociale 2025<\/a> in Montreal. The event drew 1,200 attendees and was made possible by the efforts of over 150 staff and volunteers. Over two days, participants engaged in inspiring sessions and plenaries focused on innovation and trends in the social economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sommet de l’\u00e9conomie sociale traces its roots to the 1996 Sommet sur l\u2019\u00e9conomie et l\u2019emploi<\/em>, the founding of the Chantier de l\u2019\u00e9conomie sociale<\/em> in 1999, and the 2006 Sommet de l\u2019\u00e9conomie sociale et solidaire<\/em>. These milestones laid the foundation for the Social Economy Act of 2013 and have helped make Quebec a global leader in social and solidarity economy policy. Today, nearly 45% of Canadian co-operatives and mutuals are based in the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As expected, new connections were made, and many familiar faces were in attendance. Among the partners present at the Summit were major organizations such as Sollio Cooperative Group<\/a>, support networks for collective entrepreneurship like the <\/a>Consortium de coop\u00e9ration des entreprises collectives<\/a>, and cooperative federations such as the <\/a>F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des coops d\u2019alimentation du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a> (FCAQ). Their presence greatly enriched the discussions and reflects a shared commitment to advancing the social and cooperative economy in Quebec and across Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the morning of May 15, Dan traveled to Bromont for a breakfast meeting with Manuel Nogales, CEO of Acodea, and Constanza Fern\u00e1ndez-Grenno, Manager of Strategic Alliances and the Agripool Expert Network<\/a>. Acodea<\/a>, the Spanish agri-agency for international development, was in Canada to participate in the Annual Assembly of AgriCord, a global alliance of agri-agencies. Discussions focused on coordinating an upcoming study tour for Spanish agricultural and agri-food co-operatives. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n


Serendipitously, the meeting took place at a hotel that is a founding member of \u00d4rigine artisans h\u00f4teliers<\/a>, a solidarity co-operative network of independent hotels and tourism-related organizations. Established to offer shared marketing, booking, and loyalty services, the network includes 35 properties across 15 regions of Quebec\u2014showcasing the diversity and innovation of the co-operative model in the tourism sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CMC was proud to take part in these events and conversations and thanks Buy Social Canada<\/a>, Newfoundland-Labrador Federation of Co-operatives <\/a>(NLFC), Community Futures Network Canada (CFNC)<\/a>, Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative<\/a>, NewfoundSAND<\/a>, Co-operatives First<\/a>, Women\u2019s Fishing and Cultural Co-operative<\/a>, Killick Coast North Seniors Co-operative<\/a>, R\u00e9seau d’investissement social du Qu\u00e9bec (RISQ)<\/a>, Newfoundland-Labrador Federation of Co-operatives<\/a>, Research and education institute for co-operatives and mutuals of the University of Sherbrooke.<\/a>\u00a0(IRECUS)<\/a>, F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des coop\u00e9ratives du Nouveau-Qu\u00e9bec<\/a>, Coop de solidarit\u00e9 Paradis<\/a>, Consortium de coop\u00e9ration des entreprises collectives<\/a>, Desjardins Group<\/a>, Caisse d’\u00e9conomie solidaire<\/a>, Coop\u00e9rative fun\u00e9raire des Deux Rives<\/a>, Expertise Hub<\/a>, Coop\u00e9rative de d\u00e9veloppement r\u00e9gional du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a>, Coop\u00e9rative de d\u00e9veloppement r\u00e9gional du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a>, F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des coops d\u2019alimentation du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a>, Fondation du Grand Montr\u00e9al<\/a>, Community Foundations of Canada<\/a><\/a>, Collective Interchange Co-operative<\/a>, Acodea<\/a> et \u00d4rigine artisans h\u00f4teliers, Coop\u00e9rative de solidarit\u00e9<\/a> for their warm hospitality and inspiring contributions to Canada\u2019s co-operative landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We look forward to continued collaboration and to advancing co-operatives and mutuals across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to see Daniel in your town soon so that your co-operative can be featured? Get in touch with him to see when he\u2019ll next be in your province or territory so you can appear in a future edition of Dan\u2019s Adventures<\/em>! Email him at: dbrunette@canada.coop<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 5, during the Community Futures Network Canada (CFNC) Conference in St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland and Labrador, CMC\u2019s Senior Director of External Affairs, Dan Brunette, visited the Co-operatives First booth and connected with fellow speaker Kyle White, Director of Education, and panel moderator Ryley Hawkeswood, Community Engagement Coordinator. Co-operatives First, a co-operative development organization focused […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":247257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Dan's Adventures - May 2025","_seopress_titles_desc":"Dan's Adventures - May 2025","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247238","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\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247238"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247292,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247238\/revisions\/247292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada.coop\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}