GLOBAL AFFAIRS / FOREIGN AFFAIRS STATEMENT TO CBC NEWS
EMAIL May 19, 2017
FROM:
Michael O’Shaughnessy
a/Deputy Director   Directeur adjoint p.i.
Issues Management and Media Relations   Gestion d’enjeux et Relations avec les
médias
Public Affairs   Affaires publiques
Édifice Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex, Ottawa, Ontario (K1A 0G2)
Tel.: (343) 203-1706 Média: media@international.gc.ca
Government of Canada   Gouvernement du Canada
Q and A
1) What volume of holdings does your department retain - older than 30
years - that has not been transferred to Library Archives Canada (LAC)?
–
- GAC Records Office currently manages over 48,000 boxes of files. In
collaboration with LAC, we estimate that approximately 5% of GAC’s holdings
have archival value and will be transferred to LAC according to our most recent
2016/003 disposition authority. At this point, we do not have the ability to
identify an accurate estimate of the number of files older than 30 years.
2) What are the reasons those materials have not been transferred?- Prior to receiving the 2016/003 disposition authority, GAC had no valid legal
framework to dispose of files and/or transfer them to LAC as per section 12 and
13 of the Library and Archives of Canada act.
3) What is being done to ensure these historical records are preserved?
–
- Following the amalgamation of former DFAIT and former CIDA, GAC undertook
the initiative to create a new Records Office that leveraged the best practices
from both former departments as well as undertook an environmental scan to
modernize its records management practices.
- In 2013-14 GAC centralized all of its records in one modern storage facility to be
able to preserve, sort, identify, protect and perform some quality control of each
box and its content before destruction or transfers..
- As part of the Directive on Recordkeeping compliance, GAC’s Records Office
worked with all departmental business lines to identify Information Resources of
Business Value (IRBVs) as well as validate with business owners retention and

 disposition schedules. Compliance to the directive, led to authorization of GAC’s
2016/003 disposition authority.
- In collaboration with LAC, historical records or Information of Enduring Value
(IREVs) have/continue to be identified and in some cases have already been
transferred for long term preservation.
4) What is being done to ensure these historical records are accessible
to the Canadian public in future?- As mentioned above, in 2013-14, GAC created a Records Office with
experienced staff and worked in collaboration with LAC in order to create the
2016/003 disposition authority as well as to ensure that IRBVs and IREVs are
managed effectively throughout their life cycle.
- GAC will continue to work with LAC as part of its Digital Transformation which
strives to proactively release records and make them accessible to all Canadians.
- In 2008 the Departmental Library (Jules Léger Library) began digitizing
departmental Official Publications as a means to preserving and making the
collection accessible to researchers regardless of their location. This initiative is
ongoing, however, to date the full text of over one million pages of departmental
publications have been digitized and are housed in a searchable research
database available on the internet: http://gac.canadiana.ca/ These publications
are an important part of the rich departmental legacy and include material such
as the Communiqués (1948-1995), Canadian Representation Abroad,
CanadExport, departmental Annual Reports, and other important works, in both
official languages where possible. This digitization effort is vital, both for
preserving the heritage of GAC and for providing Canadians with enduring digital
access to that heritage. It is also a central element in our ongoing work to
improve Library services.