Nouvelles de la FCNQ / wMŒns2 gnC5nq5 / FCNQ News\r\nMot du président\r\n????? ?????? ?????????????????\r\n?????????? ????????? ????????\r\n1 % ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?\r\n???\r\n????\r\n???????? ???????????????????\r\n?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?\r\n?? ???? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?\r\n? ? ?? ?\r\n????????????????? ????????\r\n????\r\n? ? ? ? ? ?? ??\r\n??????\r\n?????????????????? ????.\r\n???\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?\r\n???????????? ???? ??????\r\n? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ??? ? ?\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ,\r\n???? ?\r\n?????????????? ???? ????\r\n?????????? 100% ????? ???\r\n?????\r\n??? ? ?\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? .\r\n???? ?????????? ??????????\r\n???????? ????????????? ??????\r\n?????? ???????? ?????? ?????\r\n??????? ??????????? ???\r\n?????????? , ???? « ???????\r\n» ??????? ????????????\r\n???????. ???????? ??????????\r\n??????\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?\r\n????????????????? ??????????\r\n? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?? ?? ?\r\n??????\r\n??????????? ?? ?????? ????????\r\n? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?\r\n? ? ??? ? ? ? ,\r\n??????????? ????? ???????\r\n??????????.\r\n?????? ????????????? ????\r\n?????. ???????? ?????????\r\n? ??????? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?\r\n???? ???? ????????????\r\n????????? ?????????, ???\r\n? ??? ?\r\n????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ,\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? .\r\n????????????? ???????????????\r\n?? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?\r\n??????? ????????????.\r\n??? ??? ??? ???????????\r\n\r\n???????\r\n\r\nA word from the President\r\n\r\n???? ?\r\n?????????????\r\n? ??\r\n?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ???? ? ? ,\r\n????????????????? ?????\r\n? ?? ? ?? ? ? ? ?\r\n? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??\r\n?????.\r\n??? ?????? ???????\r\n????????????\r\n??????????\r\n????????? ?????????. ?????\r\n???????????¡\r\n\r\nI first became a board member of our\r\nnewly established co-op in the fall of 1968,\r\nand have since been involved in the cooperative movement up to today, except\r\nfor six years in between where I was not a\r\nboard member.\r\nI have also been an executive member\r\nof the Fédération des Coopératives du\r\nNouveau Québec, on and off as well, each\r\ntime depending on election results. I had\r\nbecome president in 1980 when the FCNQ\r\npresident had let go of his role as president\r\nthen. Currently, I have been elected as\r\npresident for the past two years.\r\nI have been pleased to work for the\r\ncooperative movement, as I find the work\r\nwithin the cooperative movement quite\r\nimportant. There are different aspects of\r\nthe movement that I like but the one I am\r\nmost pleased about is the fact that it brings\r\nus to work together, we have to collaborate\r\nin order to achieve whatever goal we set\r\nup. Whether one co-op is larger, or smaller,\r\nthan another, they must work equally\r\ntogether. One co-operative may not have\r\nprofits in certain years but it will not be\r\nneglected by the other cooperatives.\r\nThe most challenging period occurred in\r\nthe early 1980s, when we were struggling\r\nfinancially and needed finances in order to\r\npurchase store goods. I recall a meeting\r\nthat was held and how difficult that\r\nmeeting was. The Federation’s executive\r\ncommittee had made a request for funding\r\nand they had been told that funding would\r\nbe given to them only if it removed its\r\nemployees. I recall that having been the\r\nmost difficult moment. They walked out\r\nof that meeting.\r\nOne other challenge is to have debts\r\npaid. The Federation gives 1% of a co-op’s\r\nrevenues so that a co-op can offer credit\r\npurchases to its members. Members can make purchases with a credit to the co-op,\r\nand some pay off their debts well while it\r\ncan be difficult for others. This is often\r\nrelated to the fact there are those who live\r\nonly an social assistance, and therefore do\r\nnot earn much for a living. This is one of the\r\nchallenges a coop can have.\r\nI believe that the goal we had aimed for,\r\nthat is for the cooperative movement to\r\nreturn benefits to Inuit, has been achieved\r\n100% ! It is obvious that if we did not have\r\nour coops today we would have nothing,\r\nfor today we can purchase everything,\r\nincluding food, that we need. And we can\r\ndo that with the help of the Federation, so\r\nlong as we properly manage it. I am proud\r\nof our founders, the ones who helped create\r\nthe FCNQ, for when they planned the\r\nfuture of the cooperative movement they\r\nplanned well and had a strong vision. In the\r\npast they would meet for a month at a time\r\npreparing and laying the foundation for the\r\nfuture, even to details of how debts would\r\nbe paid. It was people like Peter Murdoch\r\nwho were there at the time participating\r\nin the discussions. It is an important\r\nresponsibility to keep our cooperative\r\nmovement strong, and to continue not\r\nleaving any members behind.\r\nWe must keep moving forward with our\r\nFederation and our cooperatives. We cannot\r\nachieve our needs all at the same time. Any\r\ncoop that goes through difficulty will have\r\nthe support of those that are doing well.\r\nThen at another time, it will do well. I am\r\nquite proud about this way of supporting\r\neach other. We must continue our support\r\nfor our coops, and even if we may no longer\r\nbe elected members of a coop board in our\r\ncommunity or representative of the FCNQ\r\nboard, our coop movement must move on.\r\nHaving reflected upon this I would add\r\nhow pleased I am to see Kanguq being\r\nproduced again, the newsletter we used to\r\npublish so that everyone may have a better\r\nunderstanding of the work we are doing in\r\nthe cooperative movement. I believe it will\r\nonce again serve to benefit readers to learn\r\nabout our work and hope it will continue\r\ninto the future. Kanguq has not appeared\r\nfor so long, and it is with a desire to inform\r\neveryone that it returns. I am simply please\r\nwith its reappearance !\r\n\r\n