July 7, 2012
The United Nations declared 2012 to be the International Year of Cooperatives and today was set aside for particular celebration. The UN describes cooperatives as “business enterprises owned and controlled by the very members that they serve.”
I had the honour of joining the official celebrations at the Kitchener market this morning, bringing greetings on behalf of the City of Waterloo.
Bringing greetings at the local celebration on the International Day of Cooperatives
In our region, you can buy food from cooperatives, live in cooperative housing, drive cars owned by a cooperative, and enroll your children in daycare cooperatives.
In my ward, you can do at least the last three of those, with WCRI providing cooperative housing for students, Grand River Car Share providing two cars at University of Waterloo parking lots, and Hildegard Marsland Cooperative Day Nursery.
I believe that community works best when it works together, and cooperatives are an excellent, daily example of that philosophy at work in Waterloo.
My partner and I have had a front-row seat for watching cooperatives in action in our community as members of Grand River Car Share. With cars across both Kitchener and Waterloo, membership complements public transit, walking, and carpooling, allowing us to get around our region and beyond when and where we need to.
Congratulations to our local cooperatives and thank you to all of the people involved whose tireless efforts make it all possible.