If there was ever a time for the history of Nova Scotia’s co-operative movement to be published, it would be now, when the world is a tough place for many to thrive, and Atlantic Canadians could use a reminder of their historical grit and determination to look after each other. If there was ever a person well suited to the storytelling, it would be Alec Bruce, a third-generation writer and multi-generation Nova Scotian, who brings heart and style along with journalistic vigour to any of his bylines or books.
The Cooperators was commissioned by the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council, published by Pottersfield Press, and launched at the Council’s 75th Annual General meeting in June 2024. But wait a moment: a history book about a social movement that started back in the 1930s, struggled and was then suppressed in the late 20th century, and finally revitalized in the 2000s onward. How do you make that a page-turner?
“I am a storyteller more than anything,” says Bruce, an award-winning writer, author, and regular Saltscapes contributor, based in Halifax. “I combine social history with contemporary journalism, but it’s still all story.”
And story means people.
“Absolutely,” says Bruce. “This is very much a Nova Scotia movement with Nova Scotian characters, like Moses Coady and Jimmy Thompkins, the founders of the Antigonish Movement.”
Bruce’s lively book goes well beyond the history of the original movement and its irrepressible and brilliant founders and leads onto the evolution of co-operative organizations and credit unions in the province and all their modern applications. From farms, solar power, and funeral homes, to housing, wood products, home care, coffee shops, and art galleries. If you can think of something humans need, work at, are actively developing or creatively enjoying, there’s a co-op for it in Nova Scotia and beyond. Supporting these are the credit unions, themselves financial co-operatives.
“People are feeling disconnected and helpless these days,” says Dianne Kelderman, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council. “The co-operative movement gives hope and shows caring. And we should care because we are facing unprecedented challenges such as climate change, lack of affordable housing, and homelessness. The movement’s original model, which focused on building communities, taking care of people, equity, benefits for all, and how we, as individuals, can be a part of the solutions, is the best one to address these issues now.”
Kelderman and Bruce met when he profiled her career for a business magazine. He made clear his admiration for the co-operative movement.
“We chose Alec because he believes in the subject and is a respected writer,” says Kelderman, active in her field for more than 30 years. “He has a real and engaging style, and he’s writing about real people and times.” She laughs. “I didn’t want a book that focused on me!”
Spoiler alert: some of the punchiest stories in the book do focus on Kelderman, once called a “luminary” by the late writer and social activist, Silver Donald Cameron. Other stories tug firmly on the heart strings, such as the one about youth-at-risk training programs, which introduces kids to farms and farm animals, and earlier tales about hard-working, hard-scrabble resource-based workers who become, as Moses Coady titled his only book, Masters of Their Own Destiny.
Bruce, who has a master of fine arts from King’s College in Halifax, calls the book a work of creative non-fiction. He writes in the endnotes, “This book contains certain scenes and characterizations that have been reconstructed for narrative effect ... and are based on documented, second-hand accounts of the actual events and conversations that occurred at the time, recounted herein.”
For the reader, this translates to a romping read about a history that seems more today than yesterday, and a future that shines with hope and options for all, not simply the privileged.
“Individuals empower themselves by empowering each other,” says Bruce. “You are what you negotiate among each other to be. People are their own best agents.”