George Keen

George Keen

George Keen, salesman, co-operative leader (b at Stoke-on-Trent, Eng 8 May 1869; d at Brantford, Ont 4 Dec 1953). Keen immigrated to Canada in 1904. In 1906 he helped organize the Brantford Co-operative Society, a consumer co-operative. In 1909 he called the meeting that organized the Co-operative Union of Canada, the national organization for co-operatives in English Canada, and was its general secretary 1909-45. Keen believed that all economic activities should be organized co-operatively and was particularly devoted to encouraging consumer co-operatives. Between 1922 and 1939 he visited western Canada annually and Atlantic Canada frequently, thereby playing a significant role in developing the CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT in those regions. He also became an authority on legislation for the co-operative movement, and he frequently defended it before provincial and federal governments.