This sub-sub-series consists mainly of correspondence, including e-mails (in print form), addressed to Prime Minister Chrétien's three successive chiefs of staff, i.e. Jean Pelletier (1993-2001), Percy Downe (2001-2003) and Edward S. [Eddie] Goldenberg (2003). Related documents are generally attached to the main items of correspondence, including correspondence transmittal forms, phone memos, nominal lists for transmittal, various reference materials (i.e. press clippings, legal and regulatory texts, handwritten notes, memos, briefing notes, press releases, CVs, promotional and advertising material, etc.). Please note that copies of the Chief of Staff's replies were not automatically attached to incoming correspondence.
Most of the issues and major events marking Jean Chrétien's three terms as Prime Minister are addressed in this correspondence: federal-provincial politics, most notably the Constitution and the 1995 Quebec referendum; the sponsorship program; the Liberal Party of Canada, and provincial Liberal associations and parties; the Chrétien government (support and criticism); the state of Canada's economy and finances, i.e. the budget, the deficit, national income and equalization; national industry and commerce; international trade, particularly Canada / U.S. relations (softwood lumber, Team Canada, fisheries, etc.); national defence; justice, most notably gun control and drug patent bills; social policy; immigration; health and well-being (i.e. tobacco, etc.); the Public Service of Canada; communications; aboriginal affairs; transportation (especially ports and airports); the environment (i.e. the Kyoto Protocol, climate change, etc.); official languages and bilingualism; and global conditions and international relations, in particular the events of September 11, 2001, and their repercussions, the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc.; UN peacekeeping and electoral observation missions in which Canada took part during this period (Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina, etc.); and major national or international events (Francophone Summits, Olympic Games, G-7 / G-8 / APEC Summits, Y2K bug, etc.). To this list we can add expressions of concern and analyses by directors of small and medium-size Canadian businesses, by Canadian diplomats posted overseas, and by foreign diplomats posted on Canadian soil.
Among other things, these correspondence exchanges help determine the scope and extent of the relations and influence of Prime Minister Chrétien's three chiefs of staff - and, by extension, of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). This is true in the realm not only of politics, but also of commerce and finance (both national and international). A number of files also shed light on some lesser-known aspects of Canadian politics, especially with regard to international, diplomatic and federal-provincial relations. In this respect, it contains correspondence with Canadian embassies, consulates and diplomatic representations abroad, and correspondence concerning the Constitution and the province of Quebec (especially in the context of the referendum).
