DAYSLAND, ALBERTA ─ On behalf name of the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture), Leon Benoit Member of Parliament announced today that the Government of Canada is making access to markets easier with $59,500 in funding to the Battle River Railway New Generation Co-op. The contribution will be used to acquire a short line railroad. Under the Government of Canada’s Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI), this project will promote access to rail transportation of farmers’ grain crops.
“This co-operative is addressing an important regional issue—grain shipment,” said Benoit. “By using the co-operative model to purchase a rail line that was on the verge of closing, these farmers took charge of the situation to ensure the survival of their economic activities.”
Since 2003, the Battle River Railway Co-operative has ensured that the grain crops of its 180-member farmers are loaded and transported on the CN rail network. In November 2008, CN announced it would no longer provide rail service along this branch line, thereby jeopardizing these farmers’ access to markets. Farmers decided to form a new generation co-op to purchase the short rail line and to ensure their grain crops would continue to be transported along this rail line. This group will operate a section of the railway, providing access to transportation that is cheaper than trucking. The goal is to carry more than 1,000 cars of grain per year.
The Battle River Railway Co-op is one of many projects funded under CDI, a four-year, $19.1 million program that helps Canadians develop new co-operatives and experiment innovative ways of using the co-operative model. This initiative, which has been successful in making the co-operative option readily available to Canadians by improving access to advisory services, helping co-operatives gather funding and advancing research and knowledge development, is co-managed by the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité in partnership with the Government of Canada.
Since it was established in 2003, CDI has supported over 1,500 co-op projects and helped to create over 200 new co-operatives. The program has also allowed for testing new kinds of co-operatives and undertaking research projects to understand how co-operatives can contribute to regional economic development. The Agriculture component of CDI, put in place in 2006, was responsible for the creation of over 60 value-added agricultural co-operatives.
To learn more about the Co-operative Development Initiative, please visit www.coop.gc.ca.
BACKGROUNDER
CO-OPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
The Co-operative Development Initiative (CDI) is a Government of Canada program delivered in partnership with the two national organizations of the co-operative sector, which are the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité. CDI is designed to help people develop co-operatives and to test innovative ways of using the co-operative model. CDI makes the co-operative option more readily available to Canadians, to respond to their present-day challenges.
Description of CDI
The program has three interrelated components:
The Advisory Services component is delivered by the co-operative sector through a network of co-operative development experts established across the country. The objective is to provide access to professional and technical services needed for the successful launch or strengthening of a co-operative. The Advisory Services component is managed jointly by the Canadian Co-operative Association and the Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité.
The Research and Knowledge Development component is designed to undertake, support and share strategic applied research that will advance co-operative development and growth. This component is completely managed by the Government of Canada.
The Innovative Co-operative Projects component provides funding to innovative projects that respond to public policy priority areas and generate best practices and learning. The policy priorities to be addressed through the Innovative Co-operative Projects are:
- agriculture, including farmer-driven value-added agriculture and biofuels;
- rural/northern community development;
- innovative goods and services, including innovative technologies; and
- capacity building and sustainability of the co-operative sector in Canada.
