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Series consists of case files of freedom of information requests received by the Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, between 1993 and 2006.

The files in this series usually consist of correspondence between staff and the applicant, a copy of the original application and forms documenting the status of request. The files also include photocopies of the requested pages. Some of these photocopied pages have been highlighted to show what has been severed in a document. These photocopied pages usually consist of correspondence and plans that were originally created between 1915 and 1994 which were filed in the ministry’s central operational files.

The files are arranged by a file number that includes the year followed by a sequential number. Pre-1994 files, which predate the October 1993 proclamation of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, are arranged by the name of the applicant. All files were also classified as 292-30 in the BC Government Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS).

The series includes two subseries. The first subseries consists of case files that have been deemed to be significant by government staff (accessions 92-7795 and 92-9594). The requests consist primarily of applications by First Nations for information about road and highway right of ways through First Nations land.

The second subseries consists of the ministry’s case files for Information of Privacy Commissioner investigations (accessions 91-3384, 92-9542). These files are similar to the rest of the series but they also contain correspondence between the ministry and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), submissions to the OIPC, correspondence with the Legal Services Branch, and a copy of the OIPC order.

Series consists of correspondence between members of the public and the Ministry of Transportation between the years 1993-2003. The majority of the correspondence consists of letters from the public sent to the Minister of Transportation. The letters deal with various forms of transportation including automobiles, ferries, marine, railroads, transit, pedestrian and cycling. The subjects include the condition and maintenance of transportation infrastructure including highways, roads, sidewalks, bridges and ports and sidewalks. Some of the letters relate to transportation issues that also fall under the jurisdiction of municipalities and the Federal Government.

When the ministry received these letters, the Correspondence Branch assigned a unique number to each letter in the ministry’s correspondence tracking database called Cliff. The branch would then research the issue, request information from ministry staff and draft a response. The draft response was then forwarded to the minister’s office who would review the letter and either sign it or return it to the branch for further revisions.

The files contain the letter from the public, notes and registration forms by the ministry, draft replies and a copy of the final response. Some letters were sent to the ministry with attachments such as reports, photographs, and videos.

The letters are arranged numerically by the Cliff number or by another number. The letters from 1993-1998 are arranged annually by a sequential number that begins at 1 at the beginning of each year.

There are gaps in the records. Some file folders were transferred to the archives empty. Between 1993 and 1997 the ministry often “batched” letters that are similar in nature. This is especially true for things such as petitions. During this same time they would also create separate files for letters that the ministry did not respond to. The file titles for these were labelled as “no response” or “FYI” in the file titles.

The records were classified by the ministry under 280-30 in the Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS).

The records were originally created by the following two ministries:

Ministry of Transportation and Highways (1993-2001)
Ministry of Transportation (2001-2006)