Community Way is back in the Comox Valley, not that it ever really left.
Many people who have been here since the eighties and nineties are familiar with the concept- having participated in one or more earlier versions which enjoyed some success for a number of years, before petering out to obsolescence. Many, this writer included, still have accounts somewhere in the ether with amounts owing.
Now. Community Way is back, but this time supported by a growing network of often young up- and-coming businesses and individuals who are able to see beyond the past.
This latest initiative to create an alternative community money system began about a year ago when long time proponents Mike Linton and Ernie Yacub were preparing materials for a presentation in Vancouver on the subject, and drew on the services of Adil Amani, the owner of Sure Copy in Courtenay.
Adil says- “While going over the materials, I started understanding the process- I thought it was a pretty interesting idea. It lets businesses and people in the communality support Community Service Organizations (CSO's) and instead of just a donation, they get something back..Also it keeps money in circulation benefiting the local community.”
“I just thought given this business, we might be able to do something. We started Tuesday afternoon meetings at the Avalanche- they're still going on. We talk about open money. Younger people want to get involved. They seem to understand it, and are breathing life into it. I got friends, family, business contacts involved and people started getting excited. When I got Fluid Restaurant and Avalanche, that jump-started the whole process. The main thing is-where can I spend this money? That made it more palatable. Cumberland Village Works is accepting the money at all their events.”
These days, many are finding old-fashioned bucks a scarce commodity. It is not surprising that , when the idea took root over twenty-five years ago, the economy was also failing to provide citizens with an adequate environment for them carry on their financial affairs.
Mike Linton says-” In 1982 there was no money. There were severe cutbacks in the central banks, and the interest rate was.14% - a Bank of Canada mortgage was 18%. There was a collapse of business traffic. There were four or five of us in a similar place, sitting around looking at one another. Someone had read a short essay by Allan Watts about money- does it matter? The depression was absurd- nothing went away but the money, which simply measures things. The people, services which comprised the real economy, still existed. In the 30's the provincial Social Credit government printed its own community currency. In the sixties there started business-to-business bartering, which flourished in the eighties. Seattle had four trade networks- Vancouver had three. They were like Rotary-you could buy stuff from other members of the club.using club money. It accounted for $3 billion a year in North America.”
“I was the only one keeping the pressure on- looking at what other communities had done. You needed someone with a notebook to keep score, a method to balance the gives and gets.. The first computer in town was in 1982.on 4th Street in Courtenay, offered for small organizations.
We started putting together the software- It's still a work in progress.”
The first system was called LETS- which stood for -”Let's Get On With It”- the acronym came later- Local Exchange Trading System.
Things got going in 1983- “It went quickly- everybody believed in it. It was fun- it works.”
One of the key components turned out to be the participation of Peter Walford, a dentist in Cumberland. Linton says- “He did a lot of trade- a lot of people got their teeth fixed.”
Unfortunately, when Peter went off to Hornby Island in 1986, it was a blow- “It exposed how little people understood the system. If there wasn't a dentist the system must be doomed.”
Within a short time, the system faltered, and people were left holding on to dollars thy could no longer cash in.
Since 1986 there were two or three attempts to get the thing going again.
Linton says a problem has always been “We couldn't get the 5th Street businesses, the retail sector.”
This time around, the situation has changed.
Linton says the big advantage this time is that many of the participants “are younger- it's not business as usual. It's different from the old boys. This is a very big idea. It really rattles peoples' cages. The implications of the idea rapidly spiral right out of the frame- into the abyss. My god what else does this have to do with? It challenges people's core concepts. You see a lot about people quite quickly.”
Another difference this time is the pace- “We plan to go slowly and feed fuel into the fire at a rate at which the fire advances.”
This summer, there was a successful launch of “limited edition currency” at Big Time Out.
And more recently, the finished version of the money is being printed and slowly distributed into the community.
So how does it work, and does it?
The idea can be hard to grasp- how can you just create value out of thin air, and call it money?
The fact is that Community Way is not created out of thin air- its value comes from the commitment of participating businesses to donate a certain amount in goods and services. This is the engine that creates value.
For example let's say the island WORD, pledges the value of $4000 of its services. (one thousand dollars per full time employee) This amount is then donated to one of the participating non-profit organizations, such as Dawn to Dawn, the group working on the homeless front. Dawn to Dawn then shows an extra $4000 in its account, while the WORD's account appears as -$4000.
And thats basically it. Instant money- now it needs to become part of the local economy.
The charitable organizations can use the community dollars in several ways- it can be spent by them on services from other CW participants; it can be paid to employees or volunteers as a reward, or it can be exchanged by the public for the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars. This means that anyone can make a contribution, and get something back.
So the WORD is minus $4000. which changes as people start using our services, i.e. taking out ads.and paying with community way dollars.
This exchange can happen in two ways- either with the printed money that is entering circulation, or simply by noting the transaction directly on the computer- this is the responsibility of the payee. You go to the website and record the payment, and the accounts are adjusted accordingly.
There are several advantages to joining in- it creates a pool of extra funds which can lower one's expenses; it enables one to participate in community support, and it provides a network of businesses which will be inclined to seek each other out.
Businesses can ease their way into the system slowly, without becoming full blown participants. For example, any businesses can decide to accept a certain amount of Community Way dollars without signing up with an account.
Linton is optimistic, of course, at the prospects this time around- “It is a huge social, moral, psychological, spiritual act for the community. Its a major injection of liquidity.
At this point around $100,000 has already been pledged and ready to circulate. Not bad- but Linton thinks the potential is huge.
For information, call 871-CVCW (2829) or email cvcw,,,lets.net.
Websites are- www.communityway.ca/
You can contact Adil Amani at 250-334-2836.