“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” Charles Dickens,  David Copperfield

“Let me exhort and conjure you, never to suffer an invasion of your political constitution, however minute the instance may appear, to pass by, without a determined, persevering resistance.”  Junius

Safeguarding our democracy is the responsibility of each one of us; it’s not someone else’s job!

“Citizenship is then a grateful responsibility. It is not the sort of share in the ownership of the country; it is a gift that we receive in the sharing of it.”  Mary Jo Leddy, Why Are We Here?  A meditation on Canada

Section 1 was founded by Peter L. Biro in 2018 at a moment when it was becoming clear to democratic scholars, activists, civil libertarians, civil society organizations and political observers everywhere, that democratic backsliding was occurring at a fast and furious pace throughout the West and that liberal democracy itself was in danger of withering away.

As the democracy deficit increased and the urgency of the need to combat the erosion of liberal democratic civic values and practices became increasingly acute, it was evident that Section 1 needed to expand its reach and intensify its efforts.  In order to enhance its effectiveness, in 2023 Section 1 was incorporated under the Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act, and was also accorded status as a Registered Charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Section 1 is dedicated to helping us recognize, combat and reverse democratic backsliding wherever and however it is occuring in our society, and to elucidate and promote the essential principles – the “fundamentals” – of a liberal constitutional democracy or, as Section 1 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms calls it, a truly “free and democratic society”.

We operate as think-tank, convening conferences and commissioning research and writing, as educators, focusing on the essential content of an education for liberal democratic citizenship, and as public interest advocates for the cause of a liberal democratic civic culture.

We are a nonpartisan organization promoting the values of a society in which each citizen is armed with both an intellectual understanding of the core values of liberal constitutionalism and a civic immune system conditioned to viscerally recognize and react to the ubiquitous and unrelenting threats to the values and practices that define a “free and democratic society”.

As liberal democrats, we assume our responsibility to become the heroes of our shared civic life.

Section 1 is a Registered Charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada) and a corporation under the Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act – CBN: 736845017RR0001.