Towards a citizen-based movement at the heart of the economy

1. Towards a citizen-based movement at the heart of the economy National Summit on a People-Centered Economy Ottawa June 30th, 2010

2. An emerging reality on all continents • The repeated economic crisis, the widening gaps between the rich and the poor as well as the environmental and food crisis give rise to fundamental questions on our development model • In response, citizen-based action reveals itself in a variety of ways at the heart of the economy.

3. An entrepreneurial movement with social goals • The beginnings of a citizen-based taking charge in the field of economy • The social and solidarity economy emerges as a strategy for job creation and for the creation and sharing of wealth • In Latin America, in some European, African and Asian countries, the social and solidarity economy is a stakeholder in the development strategies

4. A variety of terms • Social economy • Solidarity economy • Community economic development • Co-operatives, mutual insurance companies, associations • Community enterprises • Popular economy • Etc.

5. A common reality • Resulting from collective undertakings and citizen-based action • Collective enterprises rooted in the local communities, producing goods and services with a social goal • Managed separately from the state • Primacy of persons over capital

6. Diverse and often contradictory realities • Emphasis on an approach that is territorial and inclusive of a diversity of enterprise forms / centered on self-governed collective enterprises or democratically managed collectively controlled enterprises • Stems from citizen-based movements/structured by restrictive top down governmental programs • Uses existing legal forms/creates new legal structures/predominance of the informal economy • Centered on microenterprises and microcredit/global view of all of the economy • Supported by the social movements/supported by local development stakeholders/stimulated by government authorities • In continuation/at odds with the established co-operative and mutualistic movement • Integration in the dominant development model/integral part of the social transformation movement

7. Contributions to socioeconomic development • Job creation • Creation of new services • Urban revitalization • Rural development • Social integration of marginalized or excluded populations • Sustainable development • Formalizing of the informal economy • Transformation of international commercial methods

8. And in Canada? • A co-operative and mutualistic movement well rooted throughout Canada • Public policies that are favourable to co-operatives at the federal level and in the majority of provinces • An important movement of organizations that identifies itself more as the volunteer sector rather than an entrepreneurial movement (more than 1 million jobs according to an Imagine Canada research) • Public policies that are favourable to the movement of organizations or volunteer action in the majority of provinces and some federal initiatives and programs

9. And in Canada? • For 25 years, an emerging movement of community economic development grounded in a territorial approach • Public policies favourable to community economic development in some provinces (Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Quebec) and federal Community Futures Development Corporations • Part of this emerging movement centered on the social enterprise, especially non-profit • Innovative practices and exemplary institutions pave the way for others • Emerging complicities between the various national networks – co-operative movement, community economic development, social enterprise, solidarity finance • Links that are still relatively weak with the social movements

10. Quebec: a distinct society and an identifying movement • In Quebec, an economic democratization movement is supported by a body of social movements: unions, community, feminist, environmental, cultural, co-operative • This social economy movement is rooted in the territorial dynamics of rural and urban areas • The social economy movement rests on collective enterprises (co-operative, non-profit, mutualistic) and supports a view of the transformation of the development model • A variety of public policies have been won by the movement in favor of collective enterprise • Adapted financial tools that rest on government policies and on agreements with workers’ funds • A meeting place for all stakeholders: the Chantier de l’économie sociale

11. Quebec: a distinct society and an identifying movement • In Quebec, an economic democratization movement is supported by a body of social movements: unions, community, feminist, environmental, cultural, co-operative • This social economy movement is rooted in urban and rural territorial dynamics • The social economy movement rests on collective enterprises (co-operative, non-profit, mutual insurance companies) and supports a view of the transformation of the development model • A variety of public policies that are favourable to collective enterprises have been won by the movement but remain fragile • Solidarity finance is in full bloom and supported by public policies, agreements with workers’ funds and innovation supported by the movement • A meeting place for all stakeholders: the Chantier de l’économie sociale

12. Small steps… • A movement that is still young (except for the co-operative movement) • Creation of the Chantier de l’économie sociale as a permanent structure in 1998 • Creation of the Canadian community economic development network in 1999 • A network of national collaborative research partnerships: Canadian Social Economy Hub • A federal co-operative development program: Co-operative Development Initiative, managed by the co-operative movement • Tax incentives favourable to community economic development in Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island • An investment fund for social enterprise in Edmonton controlled by stakeholders • A government action plan for the social economy in Quebec as an economic initiative that involves 8 ministries • Various financial tools in Quebec: Réseau d’investissement social du Québec (technical support, capital loans, prestart-up funds) and the Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale ($ 52.8 million for patient capital) controlled by the movement, loan guarantees and quasi-equity loans (Investissement Québec), participation in workers’ funds (Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité) in various funding initiatives

13. A citizen-based movement at the heart of the Canadian economy: is it possible? • The diversity of regional realities give rise to major challenges • The diversity of concepts and of the vocabulary slows down the creation of an identifying movement • The political context in Ottawa limits the possibilities for common action geared towards the Government of Canada But……

14. A citizen-based movement at the heart of the Canadian economy is possible if… • The need for a common vocabulary and unifying concepts • A vital condition: the rooting of practices in the communities through open and democratic organizations, institutions and networks • A global view for all of the economy and not an economy for the poor • The construction of a permanent space to share and act in collaboration between the various components of the movement • Links in the discourse and practice with the large social movements • The creation of a balance of power in favour of public policies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels • The inclusion of the movement in a continental and intercontinental construction process

15. A contribution from Quebec to the construction of the movement: Because one is never a prophet in one’s land, join us in the preparation process for the INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY: GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES AND CIVIL SOCIETY October 17th to 20th, 2011 For more information: economiesocialequebec.ca www.chantier.qc.ca