Page 12 - With Alex John Boudreau, Cheticamp Island

ISSUE : Issue 32

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1982/8/1

'''anil ?? A. J. Boudreau and a gr H course on cooperatives ?? organized by La Societe H suited in the separatio ?? store and the fishermen ?? pendent units they are oup from Quebec gave a in Cheticamp in the '40s, Saint-Pierre. It re- n of the cooperative 's co-op into the inde- today. See "Afterword." ' ? m'm w mm t' f *i*i. tigonish Movement. No problem about that. I have no axe to grind about the Antigon? ish Movement. I think it was the biggest thing that ever happened in eastern Nova Scotia. But on the matter of language I re? sented the position of Bishop Morrison and Dr. M. M. Coady. I think they were relics of the past. Their idea was, the sooner we didn't have two languages in this area, the better off we'll be--religiously, econ? omically, and every other way • "Hard e- nough to teach religion in one language without trying to teach it in two--and any? way, the French language is rapidly disap? pearing." And the general argument was, in any case--that was Dr. Coady's argument-- in any case, all the Acadians understand English, so what's the fuss? You know, that was the idea, what's the fuss? Fifty years ago, we were supposed to disappear, as a distinct ethnic group. Thank God, we're still alive. And kicking. But not too strong. Not too strong. Now, in some of the larger cooperatives to? day, you know, in some cases, one might say the basic principles, if not the phil? osophy of the whole movement, have been damaged a little bit, if not completely prostituted. Sometimes it's too easy to keep the members of a large cooperative in the dark, and for the manager and a little group of directors to organize their own little empire. And then they become worse than the Robins ever were. And that has happened. An old French philosopher wrote, some 50 years ago, he said, "When a coop-' erative becomes only a business, it is al? ways a bad business." ' (Do you think the time has come for a revo? lution in the Cooperative Movement?) If I were 40 years younger, I think I'd be the first revolutionary. (But the time is here?) Right, right. Education has been forgotten. The members don't understand what it's all about. And they're not made aware. They have one meeting a year, their annual meeting, and in order to get the members to go to that meeting, they have to give them door prizes. They call it dem? ocratic control--like hell, democratic con? trol. Why? Because you have self-perpetu? ating little groups of directors with a powerful manager; and that becomes a lit? tle empire, which becomes worse than Robin St. Peters Drug Store Ltd. Don Stone, I'n. C, Proprietor Open 6 Days a Week Mon. to Thur. open until 8 p.m. Fri. until 9 p.m. Sat. until 5 p.m. 535-2203 StPfeters,N.S. NEWLY ENLARGED. LICENSED RESTAURANT OPEN ALL YEAR 'ROUND Children's Portions Harbour Restaurant Try Our Butterscotch Pie Take Out Telephone (902) 224-2042 ' • j 2>/e/ Dishes Cheticamp, Cape Brvton, Nova Scotia q • request (12)

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