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La Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec
La Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec is owned by its fourteen member co-ops in the Inuit communities of the Hudson and Ungava coasts of Northern-Québec, or Nunavik, as this region is now called. FCNQ was established in 1967 to provide the rapidly growing cooperative movement with more effective powers and services to help attain their vision – Atautsikut/Together – working to develop as a people, leaving none behind.
The main objective of each co-op is to unite the community and to act as a spokesperson for their interests. Therefore the co-op is more than just a store, as is evident from their success in activities as diverse as:
- Operating retail stores with a wide selection of merchandise at competitive prices, often paying back savings in cash and shares to members at the end of the year.
- Banking, post offices, cable TV and Internet services.
- Management training, staff development and auditing service.
- Marketing Inuit art across Canada and around the world.
- Operating hotels, a travel agency and hunting and fishing camps.
- Bulk storage and distribution of crucial oil & fuel supplies.
- Construction projects in Nunavik for housing, schools, etc.
The co-op movement is now the largest non-government employer in the region with over 260 full-time and 50 seasonal employees in Nunavik and 120 full-time employees in Montreal.
The co-ops are managed exclusively by Inuit and Cree staff, thereby ensuring that the knowledge and experience gained from operating their collective enterprises remains an asset of the community.
Business done by the cooperative movement in Nunavik each year has grown from $1.1 million in 1967, to $143 million in 2004.
These results clearly show that the co-op philosophy and practice of working together to develop as a people, leaving none behind, is an economically viable and socially equitable answer to the future development of Nunavik.
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| ©2006 Fédération des Coopératives du Nouveau-Québec. Tous droits réservés. | |
