In the 1970s, the three federal political parties—the Liberals under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the Conservatives under Robert Stanfield and the NDP under David Lewis—gave no voice to corporate Canada or the business elite in policy making in the Canadian parliament. and libertarian public policy
think tank established in 1974, and the National Citizens' Coalition—incorporated in 1975—were formed to change the political culture to support the business elite. The two latter organizations focussed on changing public opinion. In 1987, David Somerville became the NCC's leader. In 1993, the NCC successfully supported Stephen Harper's bid to become a
Reform Party Member of Parliament for
Calgary West. In the 1990s, the NCC founded and funded Ontarians for Responsible Government, a lobby group that played a large role in electing the Progressive Conservative
Harris government in Ontario of 1995–2003. It has also legally challenged electoral financing laws limiting third-party advertising spending during election campaigns, but unsuccessfully, in
Harper v. Canada (Attorney General). In 1997, Harper resigned as Member of Parliament and joined the NCC and became the NCC's vice-president. From 1998 to 2002,
Stephen Harper served as NCC president with Gerry Nicholls as vice-president. In 2002, Harper resigned as NCC's president to seek the leadership of the
Canadian Alliance. Harper served as 22nd
Prime Minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. At a June 1997 meeting of the American political organization, the
Council for National Policy (CNP), held in Montreal, Quebec, Harper said that the American "conservative movement" was a light and an inspiration to [Canada] and across the world." Harper compared Canada with the United States in the 1990s, saying that the "standard of living" was "substantially lower" in Canada while the unemployment rate was almost double that of the United States and that there was a "massive brain drain of young professionals". It was established during the Reagan administration in 1981 by
right-wing conservative Christians. Its members are a "few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country," who meet "behind closed doors at undisclosed locations for a confidential conference, according to the
New York Times. In his speech. Harper summarized his perspective on the federal parties in 1997 with a focus on the Reform party, its leader Preston Manning, its strengths, weaknesses and future as a Christian conservative movement. In 2003 Peter Coleman became NCC's full-time as Chief Operating Officer and in 2006 NCC's President and CEO. The NCC holds no annual general membership meetings and provides no financial statements to its members. The organization's constitution distinguishes between 'voting' and 'public' members. Public members pay dues but do not have formal mechanisms for influencing the organization's policies or priorities. Public members are not entitled to be notified of or to attend any meetings, and they are not entitled to vote at any such meetings. It is headquartered in Toronto and reports an annual budget of $2.8 million. The organization has fought to keep information about itself confidential, and opposed amendments to the
Canada Elections Act that would have required third-party organizations like the NCC to publish the names of all contributors donating more than $250. ==Campaigns against Medicare==