Tuesday, September 16, 2008

NCC Not a Business

I am getting some media inquires regarding Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apparent claim yesterday that running the National Citizens Coalition from 1998 to 2001 counted as running a "medium-sized business."

They are asking me if I consider the NCC to be a "business."

My answer is no

The NCC, to my mind at least, is an organization with a mission -- to promote more freedom through less government.

That's not the same as selling widgets.

9 comments:

West Coast Teddi said...

Disagree to a point - NCC was/is selling ideas, taking in donations (revenue)conducting campaigns (expenses) and trying not to go broke (staying in business). If NCC can run a $50 million campaign against Jim Hawkes then it is 10 times the size of my business so "a mid-size business" it is.

wilson said...

Was the NCC not run like a business?
If not, what accounts for it's success other than the guy at the top (Harper) running it like one?

What was the dollar figure of the 'revenues' NCC worked with?

Anonymous said...

While the NCC may be a not-for-profit organization as opposed to a traditional profit-driven business, in the context that Harper was describing, I would agree with him. The required skills and experiences and challenges involved in running an organization such as the NCC would not be all that different from other businesses. Unless I read the article wrong, I believe that was the point he was making?

Anonymous said...

And the point of this is????Trying to discredit the PM again.??When will this crap stop.

Jason Hickman said...

Gerry, it may not be a "business" in the classical sense of the word, but the NCC did/does have employees & a payroll, and all the staffing issues that go along with that, no?

Gerry Nicholls said...

First off, West coast Teddi, the NCC actgually spent $50,000 to defeat Hawkes -- still a lot.

Second off, I am not sure how this post can be construed as an attack on Harper.

All I am saying is that while I worked at the NCC I never considered it a "business."

Certainly our founder, the late Colin M. Brown, didn't consider the NCC a business.

To him it was more like a crusade.

Anonymous said...

Okay, Gerry, let's make this a simple question:

Do you think that the duties and responsibilities of running an organization such as the NCC would give one resume credentials similar to someone who runs a medium-sized business?

Gerry Nicholls said...

Hi Surecure:

The main duty and responsibility of running the NCC, when I worked there, was to come up with imaginative ways to compare MPs to pigs.

Not sure if that skill is transferable or not to a "medium-sized" business.

West Coast Teddi said...

sorry about the $50 million - I was seeing more zeros from a previous post than were actually there!!

Still feel that all the skill sets needed to run a business are required to run the NCC - I have found that not-for-profits or church groups actually require more skills especially "people skills" to get things done. Colin did have a great vision and like many an entrepreneur, he put it into practice, built an organization and by any measure was a success.