Happy 2012!

We're excited to kick off another year of digging deeper, bringing you relevant, timely stories, and building co-operative media together across Canada!

Last year was a busy one, with lots of great coverage both from the growing local media co-ops and from The Dominion.

We couldn't do all this without our Media Co-op members: over 500 readers and contributors who support the work we do, day-in and day-out. To make sure 2012 is even more successful, you can join them by becoming a Media Co-op member today!

With that in mind, we bring you:

East to West: Eleven picks from 2011!

A Town Without Poverty?
Our most read piece of the year, Vivian Belik dug into the long-forgotten story of a Canadian experiment in guaranteed income on the Prairies.

First Nations Under Surveillance
The most read story on the Media Co-op site this year, Russ Diabo and Shiri Pasternak blew the lid on the Canadian government spying on First Nations.

The G20 Papers
The 2010 G20 meetings in Toronto continued to have reverberations last year, and our contributors stuck to the case. Tim Groves, of the Toronto Media Co-op, led the ambitious task of requesting public records and crowd-sourcing the research, with more coverage still to come.

/Occupy
The Occupy movement grabbed imaginations and brought thousands into parks and squares across the country to question the status quo and challenge the "one percent." Co-op contributors were there, covering actions and asking critical questions.

Dispatches from the Tahrir
Miles Howe, from the Halifax Media Co-op, set sail with hundreds of others on the Canadian Boat to Gaza. His dispatches from the flotilla to break the blockade of Gaza documented one of the most talked about humanitarian efforts of 2011.

Foreign Aid to Mining Firms
Roberto Nieto and Gwen Schulman investigated how our government--and some NGOs--support Canadian mining firms abroad despite cases of human rights and environmental abuses.

Oil Gateway
The fight against oil and gas pipelines, especially through Northern BC, heated up in 2011. Vancouver Media Co-op contributor Stimulator visited the Unis’toten nation to explore how they are battling the construction of four pipelines through their traditional territories.

Sex Ed's Straight Edge
Could sexual education across Canada be more inclusive? A growing number people think so, and that lives could be saved in the process, Kelly Pflug-Back found.

Sincerely, the Working Class
The Canadian postal workers strike marked 2011, both for labour policy and heralding the Conservative government's austerity measures. Canadians showed their love for postal workers, though, and we have the photo essay to prove it.

Canada on Secret Oil Offensive: Documents
In an investigative feature, Martin Lukacs revealed the Canadian government's push to undermine European environmental regulations in favour of Alberta tar sands exports.

/Durban
The UN conference on climate change in Durban disappointed many, but members of the Montreal Media Co-op were there to speak with environmental activists who are at the heart of movements fighting for real solutions.