The Canadian Co-operative Hall of Fame will be the first ever virtual Canadian Hall of Fame recognizing and celebrating the legacies and achievements of co-operators from all sectors of the co-operative movement and from all regions of Canada.
I conducted an interview with Donna Balkan of the Canadian Co-operative Association (CC), this morning on Facebook chat. She is Communications Manager of the Canadian Co-operative Association.
12:01pm Bob
What is the CCA, what does it do?
12:02pm Donna
CCA is a national association representing co-operatives and credit unions across Canada. It was originally created as the Co-operative Union of Canada on March 6, 1909 -- so we're 100 years old this year.
CCA
Violet McNaughton, who is one of the nominees. Mrs. McNaughton was a pioneer of the co-op farmers' movement in Saskatchewan.
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12:02pm Bob
100 years, impressive. How did the Hall of Fame idea come about?
12:04pm Donna
When CCA was planning its activities for the 100th anniversary, we wanted to find a way to honour the pioneers who made today's co-operative movement possible. So we decided to create a virtual Hall of Fame that would pay tribute to these people and help acquaint the public with their legacy.
CCA
Moses Coady, who is one of the nominees. Dr. Coady was the driving force behind the Antigonish movement, a movement based at St. Francis Xavier University in the 1930s and 1940s that was responsible for the development of co-operatives and credit unions across Atlantic Canada.
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12:05pm Bob
This is a new endeavor so how will the nominees be selected?
12:08pm Donna
Earlier this year, we put out a call for nominations on our website and in e-mails to people involved with the co-operative sector across the country. We asked them to nominate someone who is now deceased and who made a significant impact on the Canadian co-operative movement. We then posted the names of the 14 nominees and people now have until April 30 to vote for the Greatest Canadian Co-operator. All 14 nominees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but only one will go in with the title of Greatest Canadian Co-operator.
12:09pm Bob
Can anyone vote for the Greatest Canadian Co-operator?
12:10pm Donna
Yes! If you go to
our website and click on the 100th anniversary menu at the top, you'll find a link to the Hall of Fame page where you can vote. The system will only allow one vote per computer.
The link also includes the biographies of all the nominees, so people can find out who they were.
12:11pm Bob
When does the Hall of Fame go live?
12:12pm Donna
We will be announcing the Greatest Canadian Co-operator and "inducting" all the nominees into the Hall of Fame at a dinner in Ottawa on June 18 which is part of our National Congress. The site should go live the following day.
12:12pm Bob
Is there anything you would like to add?
12:13pm Donna
I really encourage people to go to the site and learn about these amazing people. The co-operative movement is one of Canada's most important social movements, yet co-op history is not taught in schools and most of these names won't be familiar to the public. So we strongly encourage people to go to the site, learn about them, and cast their vote.
