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Sointula
Report
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A
team of four BCICS researchers traveled this summer to Sointula,
situated on beautiful Malcolm Island north east of Alert Bay. Home
of the province's oldest extant consumer co-op, Sointula is one
of the Coastal communities hit hardest by the drastic changes to
the fishing and forest industries. However, co-operatives are offering
renewed hopes to this hard working community and presenting models
for other coastal communities in similar circumstances.
The Malcolm Island Shellfish Co-operative is one such co-op which
is hoping to show that co-operativism is one way of providing a
sustainable and viable future for areas left high and dry after
the evaporation of the primary industries.
Aaron Welch, a BCICS researcher who is pursuing a Law degree and
a Masters in Public Administration, and Jesse Gelber, a UVic Law
School graduate, interviewed several members of the shellfish co-operative
about its development. This co-op is particularly interesting in
light of its encounters with Federal Fisheries regulations that
have at times threatened its viability.
As well, Victoria Bowman and Upkar Singh Tatlay traveled to Sointula
to learn more from the Islanders about their health care , home
care, and home support needs. Many people living in Sointula expressed
to the researchers their desire to have greater capabilities to
manage health situations locally. Not surprisingly, residents showed
interest in the possibility of co-operative solutions.
BCICS is aware that people living in remote locations are presented
with unique circumstances, different from those in urban settings.
The Sointula research was a step toward finding out more about these
many and varied situations.
While the trip to Sointula was a brief one for the researchers,
the wealth of information there about co-operatives, past and present,
became apparent to them. In addition, the graciousness of the Islanders,
their interest in co-operative solutions, and their willingness
to contribute to co-op research made the fieldwork a treat and also
bodes well for future research in Sointula. |
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Spring 2001: V1 - I1
Summer 2001: V1 - I2
Fall 2001: V1 - I3
Fall 2002: V2 - I1
Spring 2003: V3 - I1
Fall 2004: V4 - I1
Spring 2005: V5 - I1
Fall 2005: V5 - I2
Spring 2006: V6 - I1
Fall 2006: V6 - I2
Fall 2007: V7 - I1
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