Barney N. Arnason
Associate
From the late 1930s onward, B. N. Arnason was perhaps the best known and broadly admired Canadian public servant dealing directly with co-operatives. Having begun work with the Co-operatives Branch of the province of Saskatchewan in 1929, Arnason became the Co-operation and Markets commissioner and registrar in 1932. When the Saskatchewan government formed the Department of Co-operatives in 1944—the first department devoted entirely to co-operatives in any Canadian jurisdiction—Arnason was appointed deputy minister, a position he held until his retirement in 1967. During this period, Saskatchewan cemented its reputation as the country's "Banner Co-operative Province."
