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MINISTER DION AFFIRMS THAT THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IS MORE NECESSARY THAN EVER
BECAUSE IT CAN HELP GIVE GLOBALIZATION A HUMAN FACE
QUEBEC, QUEBEC, August 30, 1999 –
Speaking to the members of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA)
gathered in Quebec City for their congress, the Honourable Stéphane Dion,
President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs,
insisted on the increasing importance of the cooperative movement in the context
of globalization.
The Minister stated that from the beginning, the
cooperative movement has found international cooperation to be one of its
essential strengths: The cooperative movement is both a very local reality, with
deep roots in local communities, and very international, responding to the needs
of human beings, regardless of where in the world they may be."
To illustrate the international dimension of the
cooperative movement, Mr. Dion mentioned the role that the International
Co-operative Alliance (ICA) played in the creation of one of the most successful
cooperatives in the world: the Mouvement Desjardins. The Minister
explained that in 1898, while Alphonse Desjardins was working as a
French-language stenographer in the House of Commons, he wrote to Henry W.
Wolff, president of the ICA. Thanks to Mr. Wolff's assistance, he was able to
make contact with the heads of savings and credit cooperatives in various
European countries, which greatly helped Alphonse Desjardins adapt foreign
experiments to our reality.
If the cooperative movement has enjoyed such
growth, added the Minister, it is because the movement responds to the same need
everywhere: reconciling social justice with economic growth, by means of mutual
assistance and democracy.
But today, cooperatives face a new challenge,
noted Mr. Dion: "(...) remain competitive while at the same time respecting
cooperative ideals. They will meet this challenge and thus help put a human face
on globalization."
Canada is fully aware of the role cooperatives
must play in relation to globalization, stated the Minister who mentioned
Canada's new legislation on cooperatives which "provides cooperatives with
greater flexibility in accessing capital, while respecting their particular
characteristics, including the democratic control exercised by members."
Mr. Dion also underlined the important role
played by the cooperative model in many of the Canadian International
Development Agency's (CIDA) aid projects throughout the world. CIDA is a
"major funding partner of Développement international Desjardins."
"In our global society," the Minister
concluded, "it is becoming more important than ever that the cooperative
movement's success continue, along with the values on which it is based:
community spirit, social inclusiveness and democracy."
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For information:
André Lamarre
Press Secretary
(613) 943-1838
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