On Becoming a Cooperative
David Carney, Saturday, May 10th, 2008
So, I’ve been tasked with getting our paperwork in order while mcote is gallivanting around Europe and it’s not at all clear if we must have (at least) five signatures on our “Attestation”, which the CDR will use in our application to the government.
Regarding a constitution, the Cooperatives Act clearly states:
7. At least five founders are required to apply for the constitution of a cooperative.
But, shortly thereafter is says we must include the following with our application:
12.1) an application for the constitution of the cooperative signed by two founders;
I’m hoping this means that only two of us have to sign it. As-is, only four of us live in Quebec; the remaining three are in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Regardless, I’ve emailed Chandy Ly (our contact at the CDR) and left a message on their answering service. Things should be resolved by Monday afternoon.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:30
Good ol’ legalese. There is an exception for workers’ co-ops, although Chapter III doesn’t note this. Later on, in Chapter V (Work Cooperatives), it says,
The section on application for constitution is, I believe, specifically about one section which two founders other than the secretary have to sign, which is separate from the full list of founders. Phew.