The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) is a diverse group of public benefit organizations that came together following the publication of the first consultation paper by the Policy and Consumer Protection Services Division, Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS). This paper, issued in May 2007, proposes to modernize the Ontario Corporations Act. Those of us who took a look at this paper soon realized that, as a sector, we were ill-prepared to participate in the very legislation that was to govern our affairs.
The timing of the release of the consultation paper coincided with a decision to form the Ontario Nonprofit Network, a loose coalition of individuals and organizations operating across the breadth of the sector, including arts organizations, social service organizations, environmental organizations, community health agencies, international service organizations, social economy organizations and others. The intent is to include in the network the nonprofit and charitable organizations working for the public good in Ontario. The very strength of our sector is its tremendous diversity. As we develop, we will seek to reach many organizations on a regular basis with information and, as issues arise, that those organizations most affected can provide network leadership, and that the rest of the sector can support and amplify the work of our colleagues. In this way, we hope to increase the profile and capacity of the sector to participate in public policy in Ontario in a resource efficient manner.
ONN recognizes that the nonprofit sector is composed of many sub-sectors that may be determined by subject (environment, performing arts, volunteers, etc) or by geography (London, Thunder Bay, etc). Rather than compete with these existing networks, ONN seeks to build the links across and between the sub-sectors. Our goal is to strengthen these sub-networks.
ONN is operating out of the Centre for Social Innovation and has received funding from the Law Foundation to support the Expert Reference Working Group and the creation of the ONN.
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