Series GR-3571 - Premier’s correspondence

The series consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence received and created by the Office of the Premier between 1974 and 2008. The records were managed by the Correspondence Branch and include correspondence with the public and representatives of other governmental bodies.

Incoming correspondence from the public is arranged alphabetically by surname in groupings based on year. In many cases, members of the public enclosed video tapes, audio cassettes, artwork, books, and ephemera with the correspondence. Many of these items, particularly those deemed to be oversized, were removed by Correspondence Branch staff and placed at the end of the accession with an out-guide noting the sender’s name, date of correspondence, and details such as title or video running time. However, staff did not place corresponding out-guides in the file with the original letter.

Correspondence from the public addresses a variety of concerns, including personal grievances, letters of protest or support for government decisions, and thoughts on issues of local, national or international interest. The series covers the terms of premiers Bill Bennett, Bill Vander Zalm, Mike Harcourt, and Glen Clark. Accession 91-5458 is the only accession to have any material dating from Rita Johnston's premiership.

The series also includes the copies of outgoing letters sent from the Premier’s office, known as "flimsies," usually sent in reply to correspondence received from the public. Flimsies are arranged by date and are often grouped into files based on month.

The series also consists of messages sent by the Premier congratulating sports teams or individuals, or in recognition of special events and letters to other governmental bodies.

Governmental correspondence is generally arranged by date and level of government and was filed at the end of each accession.

The series also consists of correspondence sent to the Premier's office by other government bodies for reference purposes, including correspondence from MLAs and the Ombudsman, as well as copies of letters from the public that were sent to specific ministries and carbon copied to the Premier.

In some cases the Correspondence Branch created files based on the subject of the correspondence rather than on the sender. Therefore, researchers should not assume that file titles containing association or company names contain correspondence from that body. It is entirely possible that the file contains several pieces of correspondence relating to the body in question.

Some boxes contain "issue lists" created by the originating office, but these were not included for every box. Researchers wishing to find correspondence relating to a particular topic are advised to consult all correspondence files from the relevant time frame.

The series is covered mainly by ORCS primary 11100 (Correspondence-General) of schedule 881099 (Office of the Premier and Executive Council). Some of the records are covered by ORCS primaries 11180 (Correspondence with Governments-British Columbia), 11200 (Correspondence with Governments-Canada, 11260 (Correspondence with Governments-Local), and 11280 (Correspondence with Governments-Provincial and Territorial).