2015 Annual Meeting – Charlottetown
Co-op members and supporters gathered in Charlottetown, PEI, for CHF Canada’s 2015 Annual Meeting, held June 3-6, to discuss issues facing Canada’s housing co‑ops and to prepare for a big federal election push in support of the You Hold the Key campaign.
Highlights
Highlights included a moving tribute to Mark Goldblatt and addresses from PEI Minister of Housing Doug Currie, National Co‑operative Housing Union (Kenya) CEO Mary Mathenge and National Association of Housing Co‑operatives (USA) president Gregory Carlson.
At their meeting on Friday, Ontario Region delegates passed resolutions endorsing the You Hold the Key campaign, including a social media exercise that helped make #chfcanada one of the top trending twitter tags in the province.
Participants chose from dozens of workshops at the Member Education Forum, while the Co‑operative Management Conference offered professional development opportunities for managers of housing co-operatives.
Social events included a welcome reception, a Rooftops Canada anniversary reception, a Kitchen Ceilidh social, a traditional PEI lobster supper and the annual closing dinner.
Awards
The recipient of CHF Canada’s Award for Co-operative Achievement was Tamil Co‑operative Homes, for its dedication to supporting newcomers as they adjust to their new homes and the larger community. The co‑op places an importance on engaging youth and seniors, education for both young and adult members, athletics and childcare. It encourages cross-learning of members’ cultures and on serving members in their first language. A real sense of friendship and kinship exists at Tamil. Tamil members are also actively involved in activities outside their co‑op, at local resource centres, schools and women’s centres. The co‑op also provides space for several community programs.
Dale Reagan was named Honorary Lifetime Associate for 2015 for his long and valuable service to CHF Canada. Dale may be best known as the former Managing Director of the Ontario Region of CHF Canada. His entire career was spent in the housing co‑op sector, starting as the inaugural manager for Hugh Garner Co‑op in Toronto. In 1986, Dale led the creation of the Co‑operative Housing Association of Ontario (CHAO) and served as its Executive Director. He championed the merger of CHAO with CHF Canada to create the Ontario Region, where he served as Managing Director until his retirement last fall.
Barb Casey received the CMHC Award for Outstanding Contribution to Co‑op Housing. Since 1983, Barb has devoted her career and countless volunteer hours to the co‑operative housing movement in Canada. Through her work as advocate, educator, developer and dedicated volunteer, she has made significant contributions to co‑operative housing on both coasts.
Sponsors
CHF Canada thanks our sponsors who supported this year’s AGM. Our gold sponsors and suppliers included CMHC, MemberGuard/AutoGuard, Homestarts, Ricoh, COHO Management, The Co‑operators, Morneau Shepell, Phillips Hager & North Investment Management, and Prentice Yates & Clark Chartered Accountants.
Visit our AGM photo gallery to enjoy some of the highlights of the meeting.
Resolutions
Delegates approved national resolutions in support of You Hold the Key, the Blueprint for a Co‑operative Decade, Seniors Day, environmental sustainability, the Canadian Co‑operative Investment Fund, and changes to terms for the Board of Directors. Resolution 8 about services for small, member-managed co‑ops was tabled to next year’s meeting.