OTTAWA — Papers, please.
Library and Archives Canada has budgeted to spend up to $2 million to purchase outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal papers, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“Documents deemed to have national importance are those that bear witness to the Canadian experience, federal or Canada-wide, those that have influenced the development of Canada, those that have a broad national scope, those that have or had an impact on trends and events in the country and those that illustrate Canada’s contribution to, and perspectives on, international trends,” read a 2018 memo from Library and Archives Canada.
Previous leaders have likewise been offered money well into seven figures in order to acquire and preserve their personal papers — former PM Stephen Harper was paid $1.6 million for his papers upon leaving office in 2006, while Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney each netted $1 million for theirs.
Each PM’s papers are stored and archived by government archivists, which will eventually be made publicly available.
Policy enacted nearly 60 years ago dictates a 30-year wait before prime ministerial papers are made available to the general public, with those dealing with national security subject to a 60-year hold.
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