[citation needed] It has been heavily involved in advertising, political campaigns and legal challenges in support of its goals of "more freedom through less government.

[4] 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.

[2]: 165 Incorporated in Ontario in 1975, the NCC was founded by insurance agent Colin M. Brown, who had begun an advertising campaign in 1967 against what he perceived as excessive government spending.

It has also legally challenged electoral financing laws limiting third-party advertising spending during election campaigns, but unsuccessfully, in Harper v. Canada (Attorney General).

[9] The Council for National Policy is a "little-known group that has served for decades as a hub for a nationwide network of conservative activists and the donors who support them".

[10][11][12] 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.

Brown was vehemently opposed to public health insurance,[9] although the NCC is now reluctant to take such a stand on this issue, as it would be unpopular with the electorate.

[9] The NCC campaigned against the general strike organized by the Canadian Labour Congress against wage and price controls imposed by the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau in 1975.

[2]: 203 The NCC provided CA$1 million in financial support in a series of cases filed by Francis Lavigne,[2]: 165  a former Ontario community college teacher who alleged that Ontario Public Service Employees Union fees were being used to support causes he opposed, which he claimed infringed his rights under the freedom of expression section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.