The series consists of records created by the Cabinet Operations branch of the Office of the Premier from 1980-2001. Most records were created by various Cabinet Committees responsible for reviewing legislation, as well as some regulations and Orders-in-Council (OICs). These committees include:
Cabinet Committee on Legislation (CCL)
Cabinet Committee on Legislation and Regulations (CCLR)
Cabinet Committee on Regulations and Orders in Council
Cabinet Committee on Legislation, Regulations and Orders in Council
Cabinet/Caucus Committee on Legislation (CCCL)
Records include committee meeting minutes, correspondence, recommendations, legal advice, legislative proposals and requests for legislation. A large portion of the records are the minutes and meeting files produced by the Cabinet Committee on Legislation.
Cabinet Operations controls the process by which legislation is proposed and reviewed prior to the legislation being prepared as a Bill. These records may relate to the preparation of instructions and templates for the submission of legislative proposals, requests for legislation, or the tracking of submissions throughout the legislative approval process. This process begins when a ministry submits their legislative proposals for consideration. If a legislative proposal is approved, the ministry will be asked to develop a formal Request for Legislation (RFL). The Legislative Review Committee (LRC) will review the RFLs and make recommendations to Cabinet on policies and programs requiring change. Legislative Counsel, working with the ministry, is then responsible for drafting individual bills, acts, and regulations.
These records provide evidence of the development and coordination of this legislative review process, and include records pertaining to both new and amended legislation. The records relate to entire bills or Acts, as well as records of amendments to particular sections of an Act. These may be referred to as major or minor changes in the file list.
Where possible, the records are arranged by year or legislative session, then alphabetically by Ministry name and then alphabetically by Act name within each Ministry grouping. This arrangement may not always be followed consistently throughout the records, especially for older ones.
In some cases, records were arranged in two distinct groupings within a file folder, with records clipped to both the left and right sides. Metal clips were removed for preservation purposes, but records from the left side are face-down on top of records on the right hand side, which are arranged face-up.
The records are covered by ORCS 10610-20 (schedule 881099) and were selected for full retention.
British Columbia. Office of the Premier