Series consists of records that can be divided into two main areas - the records documenting the work of the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC) and the International Commission for Control and Supervision (ICCS) in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and the records that reflect the more traditional diplomatic work of a Canadian post abroad.
The records of the ICSC include reports on violations of the cease-fire, legal documents regarding the Geneva Peace Treaty and agendas, minutes, reports and decisions of the ICSC meetings along with monthly reports to headquarters in Ottawa. Also included are reports on kidnappings, subversion and espionage incidents, on the future of the ICSC and on events in Laos, Cambodia and North and South Vietnam.
The records of the ICCS include reports on military action, the Paris Peace Agreement, violations of the treaty, reports from regional offices in Vietnam and administrative records and case files. Also included are interview reports with captured North Vietnamese army members, records relating to prisoner of war exchanges and agendas, minutes, reports of ICCS meetings along with reports to headquarters.
Records relating to the diplomatic work of the mission include political, economic, cultural relations files with Laos, Cambodia and North and South Vietnam consisting of reports, dispatches and letters between Ottawa and the posts abroad. Also included is a large block of records dealing with the Indochina Task Force, a body set up by the Department of External Affairs in late 1972 to deal with Canada's future supervisory work in Indochina. Its purpose was to coordinate the flow of information on conditions in South East Asia to the Prime Minister and to the Secretary of State for External Affairs and to coordinate External Affairs' work with the Department of National Defence and any other departments working in the area.
The records are organized in a number of ways. Many are filed using the file classification system found at headquarters but with numerous variations resulting from the uniqueness of the functions performed in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This post used a derivative classification system; therefore, it is possible to find the same file number in the post records and in the central registry records from Ottawa. Unique material and numbers will be found in both systems. There are other records in this sous-fonds filed in a system unique to the post reflecting the work of the two supervisory commissions along with a variety of miscellaneous material arranged with no file classification system or numbers.
The sous-fonds also includes records that deal with the role played by Brigadier Sherwood Lett as the Canadian Commissioner for Vietnam. The peace in Vietnam was more difficult to administer and the records reflect the many problems confronted by the Canadian contingent. Included in this series are correspondence files, agendas and diaries relating to Sherwood Lett's work in Vietnam along with either operational files concerning Canada's involvement in Southeast Asia up until the mid-1970's.
