Series BF 2-1 - Premier's Correspondence Unit, 1982-1985 series

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Premier's Correspondence Unit, 1982-1985 series

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Architectural drawing
  • Technical drawing
  • Sound recording
  • Graphic material
  • Cartographic material

Parallel title

Description type

Ministerial

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Series

Reference code

BF 2-1

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

See item descriptions

Statement of projection (cartographic)

See item descriptions

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

See item descriptions

Statement of scale (architectural)

See item descriptions

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1982-1987 (Accumulation)
  • 1959-1987 (predominant: 1982-1985) (Creation)
    Creator
    Devine, D. Grant, 1944-

Physical description area

Physical description

42.000 m of textual records
136 photographs
6 architectural drawings
14 maps
3 audio cassettes
3 audio discs

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1944-)

Biographical history

Donald Grant Devine was born in Regina, Saskatchewan on July 5, 1944 to Donald William Devine and Bette Jean Ford. He has one sister and two brothers. He was raised on the family farm near Lake Valley, Saskatchewan and attended Brownlee School.

In 1967, Devine obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan. He also earned Masters degrees in Agricultural Economics and Business Administration from the University of Alberta in 1970. After graduating, Devine worked as a marketing specialist with the Department of Agriculture in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1976, he earned a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Ohio State University and joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan, where he taught Agricultural Marketing and Consumer Economics.

Devine's political career began in 1978, when he ran unsuccessfully in the Saskatoon Nutana constituency. He also lost a 1980 by-election in the Estevan constituency. Devine was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan on November 9, 1979. He was elected 12th premier of Saskatchewan and MLA for the Estevan constituency in the April 26, 1982 general election. Devine's term as premier dated from May 8, 1982 to November 1, 1991.

Devine held various Cabinet portfolios while serving as Premier: Minister of Energy and Mines (1983); Minister of Highways and Transportation (1985); Minister of Agriculture (1985-1989) and Minister of Agriculture and Food (1989-1991). He was also Minister Responsible for numerous agencies, boards and commissions.

Devine stepped down as leader of the Conservative party on October 8, 1992 and did not seek re-election in 1995. Larry Campbell Ward (NDP) was elected MLA for the Estevan constituency.

Upon retiring from politics, Devine returned to teaching at the University of Saskatchewan. He also operated Grant Devine Farms and Consulting Services Ltd. and served on the board of directors of Agrium Inc. In January 2004 after an unsuccessful bid as the federal Conservative party candidate for the riding of Souris-Moose Mountain, Devine ran as an independent in that riding and was defeated in the 2004 federal election.

Devine currently (2009) farms near Caron, Saskatchewan.

Grant Devine married Chantal Guillaume, a teacher, in 1966. They have five children: Michelle, Monique, David, John and Camille.

Custodial history

Scope and content

This series consists of the records of the Premier's Correspondence Unit for 1982 to 1985. This series contains correspondence addressed to the Premier from the public, outside organizations and other government agencies and copies of his response to their concerns regarding government programs and policies. The correspondence is filed by topic, with the major categories as follows: General; Defence; Economy; Government; Law; Resources and Development; Social Welfare; Economic Development; World Relations; History and Geography. Also included are magazine files, which contain publications sent to the Premier. These were also originally filed by topic.

This series also contains invitations, congratulatory, condolence and thank you letters from the Premier and his responses to requests from individuals and organizations for special messages. Correspondence related to the Premier's role as MLA for Estevan constituency, Minister of Agriculture and member of the Crown Management Board is also included.

This series consists of 8 sub-series: 1982 Correspondence Files; 1983 Correspondence Files; 1984 Correspondence Files; 1985 Correspondence Files; 1982 Magazine Files; 1983 Magazine Files; 1984 Magazine Files; 1985 Magazine Files.

This series includes personal and constituency records.

Notes area

Physical condition

See fonds description.

Immediate source of acquisition

Grant Devine donated these records to the Regina office, Saskatchewan Archives in one accession in 1991: R91-238 (June 20, 1991).

Arrangement

Original order maintained. The Premier's Correspondence Unit created a new set of files at the beginning of each calendar year and used the same numerical filing system every year. The physical arrangement of the records and the corresponding box lists from the Correspondence Unit suggest that the correspondence and magazine files were stored separately. Correspondence files titles supplied by record creator. Magazine file titles supplied by archivists based on box lists. Titles at lower levels of description supplied by record creator. Series title supplied by archivist.
Series assignment based on procedures and approaches in place prior to implementation of RAD-based descriptive standards.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

These records are subject to access restrictions according to the terms of an agreement with the donor dated 12 March 1991. Please consult the reference archivist for assistance.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

See fonds description.

To consult the records, visit or contact the Regina office.

Finding aids

SAFA 2 consists of fonds, series, file and item level descriptions.

Uploaded finding aid

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

See fonds level.

General note

Additional political records created between 1982 and 1985 are described in series BF 2-2.

Conservation

See fonds description.

Alpha-numeric designations

R-1648

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Control area

Description record identifier

BF 2-1

Institution identifier

Rules or conventions

Saskatchewan Archives. Archival Description Manual 2004.

Status

Final

Level of detail

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

  • Latin

Sources

Accession area

Related subjects

Related people and organizations

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