Heather Peterson, according to the Government telephone directory, was employed in the PMO as Party Liaison 1982-1983, within Operations and Plans, and was Special Assistant to the Prime Minister in 1984.
While working as Party Liaison, Peterson reported directly to Gordon Ashworth, Senior Advisor for Operations and Plans, and was assisted by her secretary, J. Ferrier. The PMO Tasks listed below would suggest that the focus of the PMO for 1982-1984 was that of a political agenda aimed at preparing the Liberal Party for a federal election.
In the internal PMO document, PMO TASKS, 1982-1984, Peterson's responsibilities were as follows:
-To support the development and implementation of a plan for improving the Government's relations with farmers
-To support the development and implementation of a regional/seat strategy for Ontario
-To support the Government's efforts to work with and nurture the Liberal Party as a key political resource for the 1984 election
-To support implementation of plans to improve the quality of campaign readiness offered by the Liberal Party
-To support a process to prepare exempt staffs for electoral activity
-To support the development and implementation of a plan for improving the Government's relations with women, especially working women
-To support the development and implementation of a regional/seat strategy for British Columbia
The files are arranged into three main blocks: correspondence, arranged in chronological order; nominal files, arranged alphabetically; and subject files, arranged alphabetically by subject.
The main groups of subject files include, communications strategy, ethnic groups, election strategy, Liberal Party of Canada, PMO, Prime Minister's visits and trips, state visits, and women.
The Heather Peterson Staff sub-series also relates to other PMO staff who were also listed in the document, PMO Tasks 1982-1984, and for whom there are staff sub-series during this 1982-1984 period, see for example, David Crenna, Denise Chong, and Gordon Ashworth Staff sub-series (MG 26 O 19).
