With the end of the year approaching, it is a good time to thank all our donors and volunteers for their continued support and provide an update on our activities in 2018 as well as a forecast for 2019.
In 2018 we partnered with one of the largest exchange traded fund (ETF) issuer in Canada to work on a Vegan ETF. We needed 10 million dollars in seed funding and thankfully someone beat us to the finish line. As a charitable organization we intervene in the traditional for-profit sector when needed - for example if the risk is too high - until regular for-profit corporations can take over. We are glad that 2018 saw the emergence of very large environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds by Vanguard, which is largely seen as the bellwether for the success of ethical investing.
Unfortunately, the current proposed vegan ETF includes traditional banks which are the ones responsible for financing the corporations we denounce everyday. Therefore, while having an ETF exempt from the corporations we denounce is a step forward, working with the banks that finance them is still an issue. For us the main purpose of having a vegan ETF is to make it harder for corporations who work against the aims of vegan philosophy to finance themselves through share issuance or the credit markets. This newly proposed ETF is a step in the right direction by making share issuance harder, but leaves credit markets untouched. Our proposed vegan index would not allow banks or any other corporation responsible for issuing credits to the corporation we denounce everyday. In light of this we will monitor the development of the ESG and Vegan ETF space. If you, or anyone you know, is interested to seed our fund please contact us.
In 2019, while we wait on funding on the Vegan ETF front we will shift focus to Vegan Daily Banking in the form of a Vegan Credit Union. Please contact us for more details or to register.
This should continue until sometime in 2019 and afterward be reviewed.
Feel free to contact us for help if you are having issues getting your charter rights and freedoms respected in a public institution. So far, we have helped one family to get their rights respected. We once again call on anyone having issues in a public institution to contact us.
There are too many questionable organizations already certifying things vegan that would not be certifiable under our program. We thought it was important to represent the vegan philosophy in developing international standards. Therefore, we are a member of the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) committee on food. As such we represent the views of the vegan philosophy both at the Canadian level and international level through SCC membership in (ISO). We are now working and cooperating with other organizations worldwide to establish an international vegan standards within ISO that will start in early 2019.
We are working to create a global alliance of major charitable vegan groups with other countries. As we discussed previously, since the majority of our stakeholders are voiceless, the burden rests on us human beings to become as efficient (if not more efficient) than the organizations and for-profit corporations we denounce. Unfortunately, we were not able to make any announcement this year but we have made significant progress. We will redouble our effort and hopefully have an announcement to make in 2019.
We responded to many of your emails in 2018. In the case of businesses, many questions were in relation to certification and taking advantage of our free self-certification consultation services. For individuals, the questions were varied in nature. Do not hesitate to contact us again, we look forward to hearing from you in 2019.
We began work on vegan outreach programs for schools and university in provinces where we have volunteers (Ontario, Quebec).
As we stated in the past, one of our main metrics of progress we use is the total meat/dairy/egg consumption. As such, this gives us some flexibility to work with groups from different background to further these reduction goals. This is why we were delighted at the significant investment from government and industry to form Protein Industries Canada an organization which vision is to
Position Canada globally as a leading source of high-quality plant protein and plant based co-products, developed in a carbon neutral production environment, while substantially contributing to Canada’s economic growth and international trade balance.
Since the dawn of the vegan philosophy around 1944, vegans worldwide have been some of the strongest advocates for a plant-based lifestyle. While it took almost 75 years for industry to catch up, we are delighted that they are now standing with us. We look forward to working with them in the future to make Canada a leader in the thriving global plant-based market. We had preliminary discussions with them this year and hope to have our membership in 2019 as an NGO (non-governmental organization).
As we move into 2019, we will continue to work on the goals above. As a charitable organization we depend on the generosity of others to continue our work and due to your continued support, all of this was possible. We want to thank everyone for their generosity! As long as there are people willing to offer their time to shape the future of veganism there will be a place with us. If you would like to volunteer, please let us know. We have many positions to fill and there is sure to be something that will be a great fit for you to help us shape the future of veganism. As a charitable organization, we are prevented from running a for-profit business, and we are very fortunate that many people are interested in making a difference so we can focus on our charitable goals together. With your continued support and interest we will add additional projects as new volunteers join us to shape the future of veganism. Please feel free to contact us today to get involved in any of the projects above - or to start something new. Have a happy 2019, and we look forward to working together in the new year.
