The last month has been an exciting time for our government relations efforts. Our campaign to raise the awareness for co-operatives has yielded a meeting with a Deputy Minister! Our work to reduce the cost and paperwork to allow for increased investment in co-operatives (and making it easier to create new co-operatives!) is progressing at a rapid rate. While we are very optimistic at this point, we still have a lot of work ahead of us.

To assist with further policies, we have obtained a platform that will enable our grassroots members to contact their elected officials regarding an issue easily and quickly. This will be a platform that our government relations team can use to help your organization to progress with any policy or issue you may have. The platform is an extremely effective tool and is used primarily in large-scale political campaigns across the world. By modifying the platform to fit the needs of your organization, you will be able to access the power of your membership’s voice in a coordinated manner to effectively advocate for the issues that matter most. Our team would be happy to walk you through the platform if this is something you believe would add value to your organization.

At the Legislature, the ACCA was invited to the briefing on Bill 21 - Red Tape Reduction. There are several changes to the Cooperatives Act which will positively impact your organization. First, the ratio of members of a cooperative’s Board of Directors required to be Canadian residents has been reduced from 50% to 25%. This change mimics changes to the Business Corporations Act earlier in this government’s mandate. Secondly, electronic communications will be allowed in all forms after the passing of this Bill, bringing the Cooperatives Act into the 21st century. Finally, the Rural Utilities Act was modified to allow Rural Electrification Associations (REAs) to purchase other REAs. This is a great chance for our REAs and something they have been advocating for and is a positive step forward.