The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 non-profit organization based in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, promoting responsible government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 and advocating provincial rights, Senate reform, and judicial restraint.

History

The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy was established in 2003, by Link Byfield

Link Byfield

-Columnist and Writer:Byfield was editor and publisher for the now defunct Alberta Report magazine for 18 years. He is the son of conservative columnist Ted Byfield...

, a journalist and businessman best known as a writer, editor, and publisher of the Alberta Report

Alberta Report

Alberta Report was a right-wing weekly newsmagazine based in Edmonton. It was founded and edited by Ted Byfield, now the editor and president of the Society to Explore and Record Christian History , and later run by his son, Link Byfield, and ceased publication in 2003.The magazine began as St....

 and one of Alberta's senators-in-waiting. Byfield was the centre's founding chairman. Its operations manager is Craig Docksteader, formerly of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a Canadian federally incorporated, non-profit organization and taxpayers union that claims to have over 70,000 supporters across Canada. The organization advocates lower taxes, and a reduction of what it considers to be waste in government...

.

In October 2006, the Centre hosted the Calgary Congress, which explored Canadian federalism

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

. Attendees included Preston Manning

Preston Manning

Ernest Preston Manning, CC is a Canadian politician. He was the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance...

, Ralph Klein, Jason Kenney

Jason Kenney

Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....

, and separatist Leon Craig. The Congress concluded by advocating a rebalancing of confederation in conformation, making provinces fully responsible for their own internal social and economic affairs, the advocacy of an elected Senate to represent and protect the provinces, and the creation of counterbalances against centralizing tendencies and against expanding influence of the Charter of Rights.

Principles

The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy claims to promote governments that act with the following characteristics.

• Honest government - Honest government is self-policing
  Self-policing
  Self-policing, a form of self-regulation, is the process whereby an organization is asked, or volunteers, to monitor its own adherence to legal, ethical, or safety standards, rather than have an outside, independent agency such as a governmental entity monitor and enforce those standards.-To the...
  
  , transparent, open, respectful and impartial.
• Accountable government - Accountable government is democratic. All public policies set by courts and cabinets are subjected to approval, scrutiny and amendment by the elected representatives of the people, or by referendum
  Referendum
  A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
  
  .
• Constitutional government - Constitutional government is self-restrained, confining its activities and taxation to the responsibilities laid down by the Constitution Acts
  Constitution of Canada
  The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
  
  .

Entry into politics

In June 2007, the Citizens Centre decided to abandon its earlier decision to remain a non-partisan lobby group, and instead to enter the political arena by forming the Wildrose Alliance Party.

External links

• The Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy website