In 1880, the Great North Western Telegraph Company of Canada was established to serve Western Canada with lines in the North West Territories, the District of Keewatin, and the Provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia, as well as connecting to the Province of Ontario. Within a year, it was taken over by the U.S. Western Union, taking short control of almost all telegraphy in Canada. In 1882, Canadian Pacific Telegraph broke Western Union's monopoly. Great North Western Telegraph Co., facing bankruptcy, was taken over in 1915 by Canadian Northern.

The Greater Montreal Anti-Poverty Coordinating Committee (GMAPCC) was founded in the spring of 1970 as a coalition of local English-speaking citizen’s groups composed of the city’s poor, mainly welfare recipients. By 1972, GMAPCC had adopted a statement of principles that covered a broad range of topics: jobs and income, housing and urban renewal, education, justice, consumer protection, mass media, democracy, women, racism, the elderly, workers and unions, language and nationalism, and big business.

Some conflicts among the member groups and the organizers led to the death of GMAPCC in 1975 and its rebirth with a new name "Neighbourhood Action Committee".