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 Glenn Haddrell, CHF Canada’s first executive director, is the 2000 winner of the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Co‑operative Housing from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Glenn first became involved with housing in 1968 when he was working at his local credit union in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The credit union had been financing local contractors to build new homes but there were many people who couldn’t afford even the modest prices of those homes. He thought about building affordable rental housing and, because of the credit union’s co‑operative roots, thought it should be a co‑operative. He had heard about a housing co‑operative in Winnipeg called Willow Park. The credit union brought someone out to talk about it. When the credit union decided this was the way to go, it bought the land and turned it over to the co‑op. A construction manager was hired and all the sub-trades but one were members of the credit union. Abbotsford Housing Co‑operative was the first housing co‑operative in British Columbia. There was no government funding. Following the construction of the first phase – 30 units – the co‑op was approached by a seniors’ group who wanted to build more affordable housing. The co‑op built seniors’ housing on the adjoining land and added phase 3, plus a community building shortly after. A fourth phase was added later that included yet more seniors’ housing. Glenn says the co‑op still provides the best dollar value in the area. Even without government subsidy, the housing stays affordable because the housing charges only have to cover any increases in cost. Then Glenn was approached by someone from a new group that was starting up. The Co‑operative Union of Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress, the United Church, the Anglican Church and the Canadian Union of Students had formed a committee to look at the creation of housing co‑ops. Glenn was hired as the first staff person and started travelling across the country doing lobbying to get government support for co‑op housing. One key component was to get changes to the National Housing Act. At the time, federal housing subsidies could only go to government organizations. The Act needed to be changed to allow assistance to go to non-governmental organizations in order for co‑ops to work. The Act was changed in 1973. Meanwhile, the federal government had come out with an Innovative Housing Fund which allowed housing projects to borrow funds at a seven per cent interest rate instead of nine per cent. The new organization lobbied to get funds for five co‑op projects in different parts of Canada. They persuaded the government that this housing would be affordable to people who would otherwise be housed in public government housing. The argument was persuasive and five new co‑ops were built. Then when the National Housing Act was changed in 1973 and the first co‑op program was announced, the growth of new co‑ops mushroomed. And the introduction of the 56.1 (now section 95) program in 1978 led to even more growth. Glenn used to joke that in the early days, CHF Canada could have held its annual meeting in a phone booth. But the founding members always planned to turn the organization over to member housing co‑ops, once some had been built. As new co‑ops joined CHF Canada, the sponsoring organizations took a smaller role. Glenn left CHF Canada in 1987 and returned to British Columbia. He joined Columbia Housing Advisory Association, a BC resource group, later becoming its executive director. Glenn retired from Columbia in 1998 but he stays active in the community. He is vice chair of Four Corners Community Savings, an institution set up to provide banking services in Canada’s poorest neighbourhood, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The bank provides savings and loans to a community that has been abandoned by traditional banks. Four Corners is currently looking at various community economic development possibilities in the area. |
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