The Tribune

A Canadian executive spoke to more than 100 Bahamian co-operative and credit union members this month as part of the Department of Co-operative Development’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

The Department of Co-operatives invited Mark Ventry, executive director of the Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) - an association of co-operatives representing more than 85 per cent of the Canadian province’s 1,300 co-operatives - to speak on ‘Accelerating Wealth Creation Through Co-operatives’.

Nathaniel Adderley, director of the Department of Co-operative Development, and organiser of the event, said: “Our Department has been working with On Co-op since we visited them during a study tour in 2012.

“We are very impressed with their co-operative development and youth engagement activities, and are looking to build elements of that into our own programmes.”

The International Co-operative Alliance (the global organisation for the world’s co-operative enterprises) has created a five-point plan to make co-operatives the most widely used, and most successful, business model by 2020.

In adopting parts of the ICA’s blueprint on co-operative development, Mr Ventry showed how Ontario credit unions and co-operatives have increased their awareness by promoting themselves as a strong, diverse and sustainable system.

Key to that success, Mr Ventry said, was for co-operatives to join leagues and form regional clusters, so that they could share resources and have a stronger identity.

Mr Ventry also introduced the audience to On Co-op’s successful ‘All 4 Each’ youth engagement programme, which had recently won an international co-operative involvement award.

“All 4 Each has three components,” Mr Ventry said. “It educates students and teachers on the values and impacts of the co-operative sector. It trains co-operative leaders to present co-operatively-themed materials to high school classes, and it assists in the creation of new co-operatives through a series of resources and development tools.”

Mr Adderle is working with On Co-op to bring portions of the All 4 Each programme to the Bahamas.

Mr. Ventry, meanwhile, attributed some of the success of the Canadian co-operative movement to its diversity, and its ability to assist communities to achieve social, economic and democratic results.

Canadian co-operatives are involved in more than 20 sectors of the economy, including finance, housing, tourism, health care, social services, local food production and renewable energy.

During his visit to the Bahamas, Mr Ventry also met with V Alfred Gray, minister of agriculture, marine resources and local government, and took part in meetings with the Department of Co-operative Development.

The lecture was held on October 16th, which was International Credit Union Day. This is celebrated by 200 million members in 101 countries.