In his opening speech to Parliament, Prime Minister, Paul Martin announced that social enterprises would be assisted by a fund of CAD$152 million (over 5 years), and in a move reminiscent of the recent UK initiative, they would have access to the government’s small business programs.

Responsibility for the social economy initiative (along with community development) will reside in a new Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development – indicating clearly that the government sees it as an employment generating initiative. By contrast, the rest of the voluntary sector initiative is in the Ministry of Social Development that is responsible for income support and other social services.

In his speech, Martin gave an indication of the source of the social economy initiative. He admitted that since the beginning of his political career he had been involved in RESO, an interesting collaborative venture between unions, businesses, and community groups in a large rundown area of southwest Montreal. RESO is often used as an example of successful neighbourhood regeneration, but in this case, the product is self-help enterprise rather than government.

People in the social economy welcomed the government's initiative. Mike Lewis, a founder of the Community Economic Development movement, commented that the initiative was a great break-through for the movement. It was essential, to keep the government's attention on the social economy, and to ensure that pilot projects funded with the new money were successful. For more by Mike Lewis, see http://www.cedworks.com/

• A commitment to a new not-for-profit corporations act, designed to reduce the regulatory burden on the nonprofit sector and improve financial accountability
• Acceptance of most of the recommendations on the tax treatment of charities made by the Joint Regulatory Table (between the government and the voluntary sector), established as part of the Canadian government/voluntary sector ACCORD
• A government investigation into the feasibility of establishing a bank for the charitable sector.