Consumers Council of Canada

CSB Communications Inc. President, Chris Ballard, is a founder of the Consumers Council of Canada.

Consumers Council of Canada

The following is taken from the CCC website

A Brief History of the Consumers Council of Canada

The Background
In 1990, the Ontario government ended its operating grant to the Consumers Association of Canada (Ontario) (CAC(Ont)). The main reason given to CAC(Ont) was that it should be getting its funding from its claimed 30,000 members through fees or donations. However in reality, these members were in fact national CAC members (and many were members only because they subscribed to the consumer magazine published by CAC), and any fees or donations were sent to the national organization which considered them theirs. By that time, CAC had been in financial difficulty for many years. Chris Ballard was hired as Executive Director for CAC(Ont) and one of his duties was to investigate new funding initiatives.

Many ideas were tried; a consumer magazine, newsletters and a consumer complaints bureau in hopes of raising CAC(Ont) profile and obtaining financial support from the public. These were classic services of consumer associations. Unfortunately they were not successful. Chris, who had done much of his professional work with businesses supportive of good consumer service, proposed a new approach. The CAC(Ont) would propose providing consumer input in the development of new services by these businesses. Through Chris business connections the new model was tried, a totally new approach to consumer advocacy, a more cooperative than adversarial approach. This approach also recognized that volunteers gave their time to the consumer cause and sought compensation for their time and effort in consulting with marketplace stakeholders. This proved to be a successful approach, but attracted violent objections from the national association. CAC(Ont) had no choice but to desist, but no other financial solutions were suggested by the national organization. However, this experience indicated that this model might work, a seed was planted.

In February 1994, at a special meeting of the members, CAC(Ont) determined that there were insufficient funds to operate the organization and instructed the Executive to wind up the affairs of CAC(Ont). This was done, the office closed, staff terminated and all bills paid. While there were still volunteers committed to CAC, to all intents and purposes the Ontario CAC had died.

The Beginning
Several months later a small group came together to see if there was another way to set up an organization that could bring the consumer voice forward. John Willson, Chris Ballard, Lucienne Bushnell and Joan Huzar (all formerly involved with CAC at both provincial and national levels) came up with a vision of a consumer organization that 1) was grounded in the international consumer rights and responsibilities, 2) that believed that the best way to influence the marketplace for consumers was to work with business and industry and 3) that would be financially self-sufficient.

This group worked to create the Consumers Council of Canada. They contacted individuals who might be interested, worked with lawyer Edward Belobaba of the law firm Gowlings to draw up bylaws and obtain federal incorporation as a not-for-profit organization. In July of 1994 letters patent were granted. Lucienne Bushnell was the first president, members of the Board of Directors were Michel Drapeau, Joyce Feinberg, Karen Girling, Joan Huzar, Sharon Taylor, Audrey Verge and Dick Vosburgh. The management services of CSB Communications in the person of Chris Ballard were retained. An Advisory Committee was formed of interested and supportive business, government and academic leaders to provide advice to the Council. A Canadian Consumer Network was developed, a network of concerned individuals who volunteered to answer survey questions sent to them.

As the first annual report stated: Diversified sources of income enabled the Council to maintain its objectivity and independence. As well as membership support, the Council was engaged in projects with appropriate businesses such as consumer panels, consumer opinion research and other projects and did seek out suitable project funding from business and government.

The Early Years
For the first few years the Council worked successfully to secure project funding to remain solvent. Joan Huzar took over as president and the efforts of Chris Ballard got the Council project work to fund its activities. Chris worked hard to promote the Council and expand its influence. Steps towards achieving financial stability were initiated. From the beginning it was determined that membership fees from individuals would never be sufficient to operate the organization. A variety of funding sources would be necessary so that the Council would not be dependent on any one source.

The Council never claimed to speak for consumers, rather it sought to bring forward a consumer perspective, supported when appropriate with the opinion of its Consumer Network. There is an ongoing struggle to deal with the how many members do you have, who do you represent question.

In the first years the Council also worked to establish itself with businesses and government. We dealt often with the question - why a new separate consumer organization? Why not join up with CAC? We pointed out that the difference in philosophy was fundamental. The Councils belief that working cooperatively with business to manage consumer interests was the most effective way to further the consumer interest is very different from the CAC who operate as an advocacy organization making representations to government. We are also aware of the internal governance difficulties that the CAC is plagued with. We do not believe that the CAC volunteers would accept the Councils philosophy or governance model.

The Council made representations to the federal government and to the Ontario provincial government as time, interest and ability permitted. In 1996 a business plan was created as a result of a 2 day planning session led by Dick Vosburgh (Board member and professor of Consumer Studies at the University of Guelph).

Recent Developments
In 1998, the Council determined that it needed professional advice to continue to grow. We were also coming to the realization that we could not continue to be a full-time volunteer organization, that we needed staff. To this point we had been operating using the time and talents of Chris Ballard, but we could not afford to continue the management arrangement we had begun with. The major goal of financial stability had not been achieved. A number of companies were investigated, Dennis Barham from Mcphee Jesson was contracted with to develop a marketing strategy for the Council, specifically a corporate presentation.

Under Dennis guidance our corporate logo was created and an initial corporate membership package developed. In 1998 a strategy session created specific goals for the organization, facilitated by Gerry Malis, a management consultant who subsequently joined the Board. In 2000 a charette was held to investigate project opportunities, led by Larry Crase, a communications consultant.

In 1999, with the goal of financial stability still not achieved, the Board decided that the Council needed to approach foundations to seek financial help. Application was made to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for a grant. After some consultation, application was made to fund a year long project to determine if the Project-Funding Model was sustainable for not-for-profit organizations. The application was successful and funding obtained to hire a Project Development officer for one year. Michael Lio was the successful candidate and was hired in September of 1999. At the end of the grant year we believed that the model might work, but realized that a one year experiment did not allow for sufficient time to develop and secure the needed contracts. Another application was made to Trillium for a 3 year grant which we received in March 2001.

In 2001, the Board recognized the increased work being done by Michael Lio with businesses and changed his title to that of Executive Director. He continues in that role and is carrying out the Trillium grant mandate to make the project funding model work for a not-for-profit organization. As part of that mandate in 2001 the Board established a Consumers Council of Canada Foundation which applied for and received charitable status in April of 2002.

In the grant year 2000-2001, the Council was for the first time successful in obtaining a grant from Industry Canadas Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA). This was a breakthrough for the Council, and we have continued to receive a project grant in the succeeding next funding cycles. We have however not been able to secure the number of grants received by other groups and are pressing the OCA to explain the discrepancy in funding allocations.

The Council secured funding in 2002 from the federal Voluntary Sector Initiative to establish PIN, the Public Interest Network. PIN is a virtual network of thought leaders from across Canada established to enable the Council to gain insight and input on important consumer and public policy issues. It is established as a project under the Council, managed by Peta Lomberg and overseen by a committee that reports to the Board. The goal of PIN is to be a successful enterprise that will provide a revenue stream to the Council.

In 2002, the Office of Consumer Affairs recognized the Council as one of the 6 identifiable consumer organizations that might come together to form some kind of consumer network. The Canadian Consumer Initiative has developed as a group of consumer organizations (the Council, the Automobile Protection Association (APA), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Union des consommateurs and Option consommateurs), funded through OCAs development funds with a facilitator that meets regularly, shares information, has developed common policies and supports one another in various initiatives.

In 2003, a new business plan was developed and approved by the Board that serves a model to guide the decisions of the Board over the next years.

May 2004