St. Columba by the Lake, in Pointe Claire, PQ has been operating a fair trade store for nearly a decade. Over the years they have acted on scripture, raised their community profile and tripled their sales to about $400,000 a year. "We have our building on a very forgotten back street of suburban Montreal. We have very little visual prominence in the community, which is symbolic of what's happened to many suburban Christians. Their faith is private and hidden away," said Rev. Ian Fraser. "But we decided we wanted to be more prominent in what we believe and get the church back on the main street of the community."
The Ten Thousand Villages store, in partnership with two United Church congregations, was originally run by church volunteers, along with a paid manager. Over the years, volunteers from the community at large have taken part, which has been an outreach in itself. "It's always been a key component of how we live our faith," said Fraser. "It's not about going overseas, but about building partnerships with people, which is a key facet to fair trade."
Quebec has the most sales of fair trade coffee, followed by British Columbia. It's difficult to say exactly why this is the case, but there are some good guesses. "Some of the fair trade pioneers have been from Quebec," said Chantal Havard of TransFair Canada. "There were also several strong NGOs in Quebec involved in promoting fair trade from the start."
The project has also been an entry point for congregation members who may not get involved in the church's work. "It allows us to use people's talents that otherwise wouldn't be used, like marketing, financing and business," said Fraser, who acts as board president. "And it makes mission a tangible thing and allows people to think differently about the world and the foundations of the Christian faith." Thanks to this success, two more stores have opened in Montreal. Together, the three stores lead Ten Thousand Villages sales across Canada.
AM
