When a positive program that supports development is abolished, there are some repercussions, of course. Unfortunately, the rest of Canada will be even more penalized than Quebec. We in Quebec are lucky to have a partnership agreement with the provincial government that supports organizations like ours, the Fédération des coopératives de développement régional du Québec, which in turn support cooperative development.
When it comes to local services, people tell themselves that they will lose their last grocery store and decide to create a cooperative. However, they need support because they can't afford to pay someone to conduct a feasibility study, pay a tax expert to have a look at the programs, and so on.
CDRs, which are partially subsidized, help that group of promoters acquire specialized services and set up a legally correct cooperative, with proper rules, and so on.
The federal Co-operative Development Initiative provided tremendous support for development and served as leverage with other provincial boards and other provinces—francophone and anglophone, as it applied to both languages. Unfortunately, it appears that the initiative has not been renewed. That's sad news and is not what cooperatives would want. However, if the Canadian government has another proposal, we would certainly welcome it.