Voices of community

There are many ways to compare the relationship of nonprofits and social enterprises in Quebec and Ontario, but one of the more revealing facets of this comparison is the manner in which social enterprises are defined in Quebec and in the rest of Canada. [...] Parallel to these economic initiatives in the 1970s and 1980s were a number of systemic changes to the delivery of health and social services and the appearance of active and engaged citizens’ movement, particularly in areas of chronic unemployment and inequality, such as the city of Montreal.1 This new sense of pride in being a Quebecer manifested itself in a number of ways, including radical uni [...] They arrived at the National Assembly in Québec City on June 4th and presented the government with nine demands, each and all of which were to address the level of poverty among women and children and the growing number of socially excluded and marginalized communities in the province of Quebec. [...] To date, the government of Ontario has taken a silo approach to voluntary sector-government relations, supporting specific ministerial interests and programs with little regard to the collective contribution of the nonprofit sector as a whole.9 The exception to this rule lies in the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration’s promotion of volunteering on a province-wide basis and the transfer of lot [...] The main objective of the Chantier de l’économie sociale is to promote the social economy as part of the socio-economic development of Quebec and thereby recognizing the pluralistic nature of the economy.