Thank you for the opportunity to present today, honourable Chair and members.
The Canadian Community Economic Development Network is a national association of community organizations, co-operatives, credit unions, foundations, municipalities, and citizens working to enhance the social, economic, and environmental conditions of Canada's communities. We have members in all regions of Canada, including urban, rural, northern, and aboriginal settings.
Among our members are Fresh Outlook Foundation, in Kelowna, in Mr. Albas's neck of the woods, SEED Winnipeg, which appeared before the committee two weeks ago in Winnipeg, and the Corporation de développement économique communautaire de Québec, just a few blocks from here. I am very encouraged by the interests being represented today. It may not be all that surprising given that the committee is in Quebec, a world leader in the social economy. In any case, the diverse group of voices represented is very encouraging.
Our members are community leaders in moving towards an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable economy that better serves traditionally disadvantaged people and communities. Recent trends in social economy, social finance, and community resiliency reflect the growing range of alternatives that are expanding the scope of innovative community practices tremendously, with examples ranging from new crowdfunding strategies to impact investing, from Quebec's 2013 social economy law to the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy.
An economy with broader ownership and greater citizen engagement
as Mr. Brun, of Desjardins Group, mentioned,
serves everyone better. Here are a few examples to illustrate the recommendations in our brief.
Many of you probably saw headlines last week about the innovative indigenous-led solution to drinking water problems in northern Ontario communities. The solution, in fact, is disarmingly simple. Train the people who live there to maintain and run their own water systems. It creates local jobs and provides better results. It's community economic development.
Indigenous-led co-operatives and social enterprises, whose mission is to create jobs and improve communities, can make a real difference. Aki Energy, a Winnipeg-based social enterprise, has run a very effective pilot program to train people on four first nations to install and maintain geothermal heating systems, reducing energy costs and financed with an innovative pay-as-you-save program through Manitoba Hydro. However, the program can't be expanded because of a regulatory snag related to the use of Indigenous and Northern Affairs funding. Modernization of support for indigenous innovation can channel energy into exciting opportunities for a new path forward.
I'm now going to pass things to our board chair, Ryan Gibson.