The series consists of subject files, elicited by correspondents who addressed Ms Mclaughlin on various issues. The files contain some correspondence, but there is more of the following document types in these files - memos, notes, reports, press releases and near-print material. The correspondence is with constituents both in the Yukon and from across Canada), but also with MPs, the Prime Minister, provincial and territorial and municipal officials (elected and non-elected), and with aboriginals (both individuals and corporate entities).
The major subject groupings are as follow: Aboriginal Affairs (17 files), Environment (10 files), General Correspondence (17 files), Immigration (6 files), Justice (24 files), National Defence (8 files) and Yukon (13 files).
Some of the records are uniquely northern-flavoured. The bloc on Aboriginals, for example, deals with "general" files (funding northern needs, medical services, oil drilling and aboriginal associations), with the Indian Act and economic development of northern aboriginal peoples, as well as with issues central to the time. For example, there is much on animal rights and the regulation of fur trapping, at a time when this became a celebrated international issue. The files hold correspondence with the governor's office in Alaska, the office of the Prime Minister of the UK and the Canadian High Commissioner in the UK. They detail McLaughlin's work to defend the interests of her constituents, arguing that trappers had adopted humane methods, and that European markets should not be closed to Canadian furs. Further, there is detail on McLaughlin's efforts to promote the interests of northern aboriginals in her correspondence with the Yukon Development Corporation, the Ha-choo Nyak Dun association, and the Council for Yukon Indians, as well as local aboriginal individuals. Correspondence on this issue went between her office and aboriginals, aboriginal associations, MPs and the PM.
Other blocs, such as the Justice files, represent the generally more socially progressive approach of the NDP to matters of crime and punishment (such as abortion, pornography, family violence, human rights, and especially gun control). The National Defence files also reflect the same spirit, addressing issues such as access to military information, the danger of cruise missile testing, the need for a land-mines treaty, the avoidance of nuclear proliferation and the concept of a peace tax.
