Paul Martin, Social Enterprise Champion?

Martin touts social enterprises'

Check out the article from the Toronto Star at...

http://www.thestar.com/article/274674

The opening reads....

Former PM urges tax incentives to spur investment when bottom line is community's good

So, yesterday I had the privilege to join several others at the Munk Centre's Distinguished Speakers series to hear former Prime Minister Paul Martin speak about Unleashing the Power of Social Enterprise in Canada.

As someone who has been running social enterprises for well over a decade, I have to admit that it did feel rather good to finally have someone else touting what we have been doing for years - a kind of feeling like "I have been at the bleeding edge trying to eek out a viable business and do good in the world for ages... where were you 10 years ago"... His speech was motivating and engaging... and his proposals are great food for thought.

While I am no social policy or financing expert, I was intrigued by the opportunity to explore tax credits as a potentially viable tool to spur greater investment in social enterprise.... I realize that there are going to need to be a range of tools and governance restructuring, but what I am still struggling with is whether we should be moving towards a more community oriented for profit model - like the Community Investment Companies in the UK or a more business-positive nonprofit/charitable model that recognizes the need for better financial tools.

In any case, my sense is that we need both and all of the tools to help us move towards both market transformation and a more resilient social mission sector able to meet the needs of real people and the planet.

So, it was exciting to see how groups are galvanizing around social enterprise and social entrepreneurship and I am hopeful that we can work together to implement financial and governance tools that will support the emergence of this sector.

Keep watching this space... should be interesting to see how we start making the fundamental shifts in the economic system that we need to see to survive and prosper as a country. Cool times!