Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

~ E M E R G I N G T H E M E SAkochikan Co-operative was started with financing provided by the band and managerialsupport provided by the federation, Arctic Co-operatives Limited. Since the financing wasprovided by the band, all members of the band automatically became members of the cooperative.This factor has contributed to challenges associated with increasing memberparticipation, and will be discussed later in this chapter. Financing for a new building willalso come from the band and from the federal government. The balance will be borrowedfrom Peace Hills Trust. The co-ordination of the financing has been managed by the ArcticCo-operatives Development Fund.The first Inuit co-operatives were established in Nouveau-Québec in the late 1950s. Althoughthe federal government had some involvement, most researchers recognize the pioneering roleof André Steinman, and Oblate priest, and Peter Murdoch, who, before being appointed directorgeneral of FCNQ, worked for a branch of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the main competitorto co-operatives in the North. In the face of the Inuit peoples’ debt problems linked, amongother things, to the drop of fur prices in the 1950s, Peter Murdoch established a pooled loanfund. This initiative served as the basis for the Nouveau-Québec co-operative system.Neechi Foods, started in an inner-city neighbourhood of Winnipeg, was financed throughprivate loans, donations from individuals and community organizations, a mortgage loan fromAssiniboine Credit Union, and capital grants from the Winnipeg Core Area Initiative and thefederal Native Economic Development Programme. Having so many players involved in providingthe financing, each with its own kinds of information needs, delayed the start-up of thestore, and the process strained the already stretched resources of the organizers to the limit.Government had a vital role to play in supporting the development of the Anishinabek NationCredit Union (ANCU). Initially, some programme criteria and implementation strategies actedas a barrier, but ultimately, the various departments involved at the federal and provinciallevels facilitated the process. Aboriginal Business Canada provided funding for the feasibilitystudy and the business plan, as well as some other expenses. FEDNOR and ABC initiated adraft agreement concerning the establishment of an Aboriginal Small Business Financing Programmein northern Ontario and committed $4.2 million for business loans. The Ontario Ministryof Finance issued the charter. Prior to doing so, considerable scrutiny was conducted bytheir staff, which in retrospect will serve as a guide to ANCU’s board of directors in theoperation of the credit union.The two housing co-operatives started with support from the Canadian Mortgage and HousingCorporation (CMHC) Housing Co-op Programme, which provided a mortgage guarantee,along with a subsidy for ongoing mortgage payments. They also accessed the Urban NativeHousing Programme. The CMHC Co-op Housing Programme has since come to an end,~ 45