Crise forestière et ancrage territorial : le cas de la Coopérative des travailleurs forestiers de McKendrick au Nouveau-Brunswick

The co-operative movement played an important role in the development of northern New Brunswick. Recently, these regions were negatively impact by the forestry crisis. This case study underlines the contribution of socio-territorial capital and social innovation to the development of the Coopérative des travailleurs forestiers de McKendrick (CTFM) in this economic context. The theoretical perspective of this paper is the model of progressive local development that we apply to a co-operative organization. A mixed approach of data collection (quantitative and qualitative sources) is used in this case study. The co-operative operates in two communities the socioeconomic life of which is closely linked to the forest. This territorial anchoring favors the emergence of a particular relation to nature which integrates work, leisure activities and social networking. The forestry crisis forced the government to reduce its financial contribution regarding silviculture operations. This decision had a direct impact on the financial performance of the co-operative and a progressive reduction of its surplus has been observed. She proposes an original formula for financing venture capital in workers? cooperatives and a new approach in the management of silviculture operations in New Brunswick.