Government Relations Initiatives
As part of its mandate to facilitate and improve government relations, On Co-op undertakes a variety of initiatives requiring the help of the co-op community. On this page, you will find information on current initiatives and how to take part.
PROVINCE WIDE PETITION
In May, 2010, On Co-op launched a Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, advocating that the province “create an environment that encourages the development of co-operatives, allowing them to compete on equal footing with other forms of business enterprise.” To find out more, and to get a copy of the petition, visit the Province-wide Petition page and start collecting signatures today.
With 2,600 signatures collected to date, we need THOUSANDS more to get our point across to goverment!
PROVINCIAL ELECTION, OCTOBER 2011
The 2011 Ontario General Election provided one of the closest races the province has seen in decades. Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal party returned with 53 seats- just one seat shy of a majority! Tim Hudak and his Conservative party are once more the official opposition with 37 seats and the NDP returns as the third party with 17 elected MPPs. It should be noted that election results remain unofficial until the Chief Electoral Officer certifies the result in each riding individually.
During this election, On Co-op encouraged the Ontario government to help create a more supportive environment for the development of co-operatives ... a plethora of educational materials, advocacy tools and constituency meetings we set up with MPPs and co-op advocates.
As part of our pre-election strategy, On Co-op created and distributed an electronic survey to 428 candidates from the four major parties, to gauge their familiarity with the co-operative businesses in their ridings and to gain a commitment to meet with us after the elections. See the 'Related documents' section at right for the election summary and the pre-election survey results.
Wish List
At the request of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, On Co-op developed a 6-point Wish List of priorities in 2009, to collaborate with the province in strengthening the co-operative sector, and through it foster local economic development and create jobs. To find out more, and to get a copy of the wish list, visit our Wish List page. On Co-op is now in the process of developing a new sector-specific Wish List, to be released sometime in 2012.
