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 sometimes 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 material, etc.). Please note that copies of the Chief of Staff's replies were not automatically attached to incoming correspondence.
In addition to the many people who write as individuals, this sub-sub-series contains a significant number of letters received and/or sent by the Chief of Staff to: the heads of various Canadian enterprises and financial institutions; the directors and staff of lobbying firms; members of various lobbies, associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); mayors and city administrators; representatives of federal and provincial political parties; ministers and members of various religious communities; Canadian university chancellors and professors; lawyers and judges; foreign heads of state; and ambassadors, embassy delegates and consuls. It also includes correspondence sent to senior officials, exempt political staff in the Prime Minister's Office and various departments, and (to a lesser degree) provincial and federal ministers and parliamentarians.
It is impossible to compile an exhaustive list of the topics addressed in this sub-sub-series, given their abundance and variety and, in particular, the way the records are organized. However, most of the issues and major events that marked Jean Chrétien's three mandates as Prime Minister are addressed: 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, especially the budget, the deficit, national income and equalization; national industry and commerce; international trade; national defence; justice, most notably gun control bills; social policy; immigration; health and well-being (with issues such as sexual orientation, euthanasia and AIDS); the Public Service of Canada; communications; aboriginal affairs; the environment, most notably the Kyoto Protocol; 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.
In addition to this "subject-based" correspondence, which may resemble that received by the Prime Minister, several items of correspondence concern the Chief of Staff's specific powers (with topics such as the organization, management and composition of Prime Minister Chrétien's Cabinet, political appointments and those of exempt political staff, departmental budgets, diplomatic and media relations, etc.)
