By Trevor Greenway
Local Journalism Initiative

There could be a move afoot to disband the Centre Wakefield-La Pêche (CWLP) cooperative and merge it into a not-for-profit organization. 

But before that happens, the centre needs to finalize its agreement with the municipality to take over ownership of the building. That agreement should be finalized by the summer. 

But in the meantime, Wakefielders Bob Gibson and Karen Bays of the Membership Involvement Group (MING) at the CWLP have been tasked with studying the cooperative model and have recommended to the Wakefield community centre board that it moves forward with disbanding the current model.

Their argument is that the Wakefield community centre should not be managed under a cooperative model, as it doesn’t properly serve the community in which it operates. 

“It may be the only [community centre] in Canada, if not North America, that uses a coop model,” Bays recently told the Low Down, referring to the Wakefield community centre. Bays has since stepped away from MING and the centre to allow them to focus on the building transfer, but she still believes that once the transfer is complete, the board should consider moving away from the cooperative model. 

“You have to be a member to participate,” said Bays. “Basically, you’re supposed to give as much as you get in a coop. But we have a centre where people want to come to events, but they don’t want to run the centre.”

Bays and Gibson presented their findings during the Wakefield Recreation Association last November, however they aren’t sure where things are at because of the building transfer. 

“We’re not here to promote anything or to argue about co-ops at all at this point,” said Gibson during the November meeting.  “Based on research reported, we recommend that the centre’s board begin the process of moving out of the co-op model and into one of a non-profit or not-for-profit organization.”

A non-profit’s purpose is to serve the public good, while a not-for-profit’s purpose is to serve its members and their interests. The two models also have differences related to tax and profits. 

Gibson’s comments fueled immediate tension in the meeting, which is unsurprising given that members have been at odds over how the CWLP has been run and managed since the end of the pandemic. The centre has been embroiled in controversy ever since, with public firings, unstable governance and infighting between past and current board members. 

This tension has also centred around the CWLP membership’s vote this year to begin negotiating a building transfer to the municipality of La Pêche after it became clear that maintaining the physical building was too much for the cooperative to manage. That deal, which is currently being negotiated, will see the municipality own the building, with the CWLP using the centre rent-free to manage programs, staffing, and other internal matters. The municipality will essentially be the landlord of the building and will take care of repairs, snow removal and maintenance, while the board will continue to run the centre and its programming. 

It’s unclear how things would change under a non-profit or not-for-profit model, but former CWLP board member Carly Woods was adamant at the November meeting that the idea is only that – an idea. 

“I think around the table, we can all agree, probably – that the co-op model doesn’t necessarily work for the centre,” said Woods. “The seed has only been planted, and it’s not going anywhere yet, and we’re not watering it the slightest.”

Former CWLP president Irene Richardson told the crowd there’s no reason to disband the co-op because the centre already operates under a not-for-profit model. The CWLP partnered with Outaouais Philanthropy to provide tax receipts to donors. However, the CWLP isn’t its own registered charity. 

“We are not-for-profit. That means we get all the tax breaks that are out there,” said Richardson. “I think it’s a great model; we report to our members. Does it work? Well, we have to make it work, and it wouldn’t matter what we called it; it’s the people that have to make it work,” said Richardson.

She said another changeup at the centre would be costly and time-consuming and wouldn’t change anything operationally.