Records in this series reflect the activities of the Provincial Secretary, Party president, and other members in response to formal complaints submitted to the Party.

While informal complaints submitted by Party members are regularly received and replied to by the Provincial Secretary or by another relevant Party member, the NDP additionally has a formal complaints process in place, as outlined in the Party Constitution. Article 16.02 of the "Constitution of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia" (as amended, June 1999) states that a complaint "may be lodged with the Provincial President by any member or constituted body of the Party alleging a violation of the constitution or a statement or action resulting in severe and evident injustice to a member or constituted body of the Party." Complaints were to be submitted in writing with any pertinent evidence included, details of the events that gave rise to the complaint, and the remedy sought (article 16.04). Should the President be unable to resolve the matter equitably, a special panel could be appointed to mediate the dispute, and/or it could be referred to the Provincial Executive for consideration within 30 days (16.05). It was also "a breach of the principles and policies of the New Democratic Party for any member to seek redress for any complaint against another member or body of the Party through public notice or solicitation," (16.08), an act that items in this series suggest happened occasionally, leading to further complaints and mediation.

Complaints contained in this series are varied in the nature of the issue and in the amount of documentation accorded to each, but several cases revolve around allegations of irregular member sign-up practices during nomination periods, or other nomination irregularities. Items in this series include correspondence (predominant), notes, membership cards, memos and public communications, some clippings, and other related materials.

Files in this series reflect the functions and activities of the Director of Organization of the BC NDP. Based at the provincial office, a 1989 document entitled "Provincial Office Staffing (file 449-14, in the "Women's Rights Committee (WRC) records") describes the Director of Organization's activities as including acting as a liaison with labour union representatives, constituency profile coordination and development, voter registration drive coordinaton, by-election recruitment and monitoring, computer services coordination, pre-election organizational planning, workshop development, and attending the Strategy and Elections Planning Committee (SEPC), in addition to overseeing and liaising with several projects and representatives. The Director of Organization was, at various times, members of other committees, such as the Federal Finance Committee and the Computer Committee.

Files in this series have been created by several Directors of Organization, including John Pollard, Ron Stipp (ca. 1992), Russ Neally (ca. 2000), and Heather Fraser (ca. 2004). They include topics such as by-election organizing, conventions, Party membership, budgeting and financial matters, electoral redistribution, and more. Items include correspondence, memos, meeting minutes and agenda, handwritten notes, surveys and poll results, clippings,

This series reflects the activities and functions of various of the standing and ad hoc committees of the BC New Democratic Party. Committees were a regular part of NDP organizational structure, most often mimicking the structure of the Party Executive, with elected Chairs, Secretaries, Table Officers, representatives and liaisons from other committees and organizations, Members-at-large, and in some cases, a paid Organizer who could devote all of their energy to accomplishing the objectives of the committee. Committees regularly prepared reports on their activities for convention (and sometimes to Provincial Council, just as each committee's Organizer would prepare reports on their activities between meetings. Most standing committees would articulate a mandate, mission statement, or constitution, and would prepare resolutions to be voted on at Convention.

This series contains the records of various committees of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia, including: the Computer Committee, the Constitution & Party Affairs Commitee, Labour Liaison Committee, the Democrat Committee, the Young New Democrats (YND), the Revenue Generation Task Force, the Standing Committee on the Environment, and more. Further subseries contain records relating to the Women's Rights Committee, the Policy Review Committee, and the Multicultural Committee are also included. Items include: meeting minutes and agenda, memos and correspondence, financial documents, clippings, strategy and constitutional documents, resolutions, notes, and other related material.

Records in this subseries relate to the BC NDP’s activities in support of the 2004 Canadian federal election.

The 38th Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, following the dissolution of the previous House of Commons on May 23rd, 2004 by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the advice of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. The federal New Democratic Party, now under the leadership of Jack Layton, ran a full slate of 308 candidates, and managed to secure 19 seats, up from the 14 seats held at the time of dissolution, with 5 of these seats secured in British Columbia. The next federal election was not held until 2006.

Records in this subseries have been made by two different individual creators. Files 424-10 to 424-21 have been created by David Bieber, Director of Communications. Files 425-01 to 425-05 have been created by Russ Neely, Director of Organization.

Files include correspondence, polls, reports, strategy and messaging documents, reports, notes, meeting minutes and agendas, public communications, and other related materials.

Contains copies of external public opinion polls, predominantly conducted by Ipsos-Reid.

Contains "New Rules for NDP Riding Associations" from the federal NDP, updates and memos from the federal Director of Organization, copies of pre-election bulletins, and speaking notes from a presentation on "Strong Political Communications".

Contains telephone survey poll results leading up to the 2004 federal election, by electoral district.

Materials in this series cover BC NDP activities in support of elections held at the municipal, provincial, and federal level. Provincial elections covered by materials in the series include 1983, 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2001; federal elections covered include 1988, 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004. A separate subseries contains a large amount of Party candidate biographies dating predominantly from the 1970's, which were kept at the Central Office for reuse and reference. Though polls can be found throughout the series, a large concentration of them were received grouped together, and have been kept as such in their own subseries. Similarly, records related to the one-time activity around the Fisher Commission on Electoral Redistribution (1986-1989) have been placed in their own subseries.

As a political party, elections represent a primary activity and concern of the BC NDP, in which the Provincial Secretary would play an important role. In several cases, former Provincial Secretaries would be hired by the Party as Campaign Managers. The Director of Communications would also play a key role during elections, often acting as a member or the chair of a Communications Subcommittee of the Elections Planning Committee (EPC; also referred to as the Strategy and Elections Planning Committee or SEPC) and overseeing advertising, public opinion, and party messaging in conjunction with the Campaign Manager. The EPC or SEPC, a standing committee, was generally made up of members of the Executive, as well as important contractors (such as advertisement producers) engaged by the party to assist in its elections efforts. The Director of Organization was often a member of the EPC as well, and oversaw the coordination of campaign organizers in each electoral district. The majority of the records found throughout these subseries have been created either by the Provincial Secreatary or the Director of Communications.

Records include correspondence, notes and drafts, memos, public announcements, polls, media clippings, court documents, agendas and minutes, public communications, budgetary documents, candidate biographies and supporting materials, campaign literature, strategy and messaging documents, reports, schedules, and other related materials.

Includes messaging documents, polls, and correspondence.

Section dividers include: Agenda, Minutes, Strategy, Message Box, Committees, EPC BC, BC memos, and Federal Party Memos.

Items include budgetary documents, strategy reports, messaging, memos, agendas, minutes, public communications, reports, and other related materials.

Contains handwritten notes, a draft agenda for an EPC conference call, and materials from the federal NDP's Election Readiness Committee.

Files in this subseries reflect the activities of the Women’s Rights Committee of the BC NDP, including its various subcommittees, committee liaisons, and coordination with the federal NDP Participation of Women Committee.

According to a 1992 document prepared by Anne Frost, past WRC Chair, and Charley Bersford, WRC Chair (“Women’s Rights Committee: Herstory”, 1992, in file 450-12), the Women’s Rights Committee was officially made a standing committee of the New Democratic Party of BC by a motion passed at Convention in 1971, building on previous women’s councils and federal women’s committees in the BC NDP and the CCF. The Committee’s mission statement in 1992 was “To guarantee fairness and equality for women in British Columbia; to address the roots of systemic discrimination and initiate legislation, services and programs to ensure women equal participation in all aspects of society; and to ensure access for all women to social justice” (“Mission Statement & Goals for Women’s Equality in a New Democratic Government,” WRC, spring 1992; in file 455-04). The Committee sought to achieve these goals through a variety of activities reflected in the files contained within this subseries, including authoring white papers on women’s issues, producing handbooks (such as the “Winning Nominations” handbook, created to assist women seeking to run for and win nominations in provincial elections; found in files 449-17 and 449-20), organizing workshops, producing and distributing a publication focused on women’s issues (entitled “Priorities” and launched in 1972; see for example file 450-05), introducing motions on gender-related issues at Convention, and more.

The Committee has its own executive structure, including Table Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer), Past-Chair, Priorities Coordinator, Democrat Page, POW Representative (the federal NDP women’s committee, known as Participation of Women), a Women’s Rights Organizer (WRC paid staff position), as well as regional representatives for the electoral constituencies, members at large, and representatives from and to other committees, such as the Young New Democrats, the Policy Review Committee, etc. Further, the WRC also formed its own subcommittees to engage with particular issues, such as the Nomination Support Committee, or the Committee on Sexist Behaviour. Like the BC NDP itself, these positions were generally elected at Convention, and “all women who are members in good standing of the B.C. New Democratic Party are eligible to attend Women’s Rights Committee Steering Committee meetings and have both voice and vote, except on money matters.” (“Women’s Rights Committee – Membership & Structure,” June 24, 1992; in file 450-07).

File 449-18 contains a copy of the “WRC Objectives -1992/93,” which gives a general sense of the goals and strategies of the WRC at the time, while file 456-05 contains the most recent draft constitution of the WRC included in this accrual (January 2003). Other materials in this subseries include meeting minutes and agenda, handwritten notes, correspondence, financial documents, reports, convention materials, memoranda and public communications, clippings, and other related materials.

The records in this series relate to the planning, organization, and execution of the provincial NDP conventions held to elect party executive and determine party policy and direction.

The provincial convention is perhaps the most important activity of the provincial NDP, alongside its election activities. Originally held annually (except in rare occasions) until 2001 when it became a bi-annual event, convention is where party policy is adopted and amended, discussion papers are circulated, reports from party executive and caucus members are heard, and elections for internal party positions are held. In addition, each year long-standing and active party members are selected by a committee to be inducted as Honourary Life Members (HLMs). Often during election years, the Federal NDP Leader would also attend the convention and address the BC provincial party members.

During the conventions, each electoral constituency would elect delegates to represent them at the convention, and submit any resolutions passed by their constituencies for consideration as Party policy. Constituency delegates at the convention would debate and vote upon policy (based on the submitted resolutions), as well as elect the party’s executive, made up of Table Officers (Party president, vice presidents, membership secretary, treasurer) and members-at-large. When necessary, the convention would also elect the party’s new leader. Each delegate would receive a convention kit upon arrival containing the minutes of the previous convention, reports from the party executives and standing committees, party financial reports, all policy to be considered that year, and other related materials. Conventions are traditionally presided over by the provincial party president, or by one of the vice-presidents, and tend to span several days. Important policy not able to be addressed or decided upon at convention may be referred to the Provincial Council for further discussion, and/or added to the resolutions under review at convention the following year. Over the years, many of the kits contained an explanation of Convention to new members (such as file 428-06, “1984 convention kit), which can be consulted for further information.

Convention organization was usually coordinated out of the provincial office, with one person tasked as the convention coordinator, supported by several committees, most notably the Convention Arrangements Committee (CAC) and the Resolutions Committee. In many cases, members of the provincial executive and internal party staff members (such as the Provincial Secretary, the Director of Organization, and/or the Director of Communications) would be members of the Convention Arrangements Committee, and would handle the coordination and planning of the event. The Resolutions Committee would receive resolutions sent in by constituencies (or submitted from regional conferences, as began occurring as of 1988), organize these into categories (such as Health, Economics, or Constitution and Party Affairs), and then determine an order of priority so the most pressing issues in each category would be given priority floor time. Constituencies could also submit Emergency Resolutions which were time-sensitive and generally related to recent provincial, national, or global events. Other convention organizing committees over time have included the Leadership Rules Committee, The Balloting Committee, the Credentials Committee, and the Harassment Committee.

Records in this series include correspondence, budget documents, drafts, convention kit materials and other public communications, memoranda and bulletins, meeting agendas and minutes, and other related materials.

Polls were a regular part of election preparations for the BC NDP, and over time, many different companies were engaged by the New Democrats to conduct baseline polls, panels, and focus groups. While polls were often conducted specifically leading up to an election, they would be used to gauge public sentiment throughout the year, and many polls prepared by and for third parties were consulted, analyzed, and kept on hand as well. Though their original placement within the Provincial Offices is unknown, at the time of their receipt by RBSC, these files grouped together, suggesting that they had been maintained as such throughout their active use.

This subseries contains polls, drafts, correspondence, public communications, clippings, and other related materials. The subseries contains the records of at least 4 individuals, and 2 positions. The majority of the records have been created by the Provincial Secretary (held by 3 different individuals over the course of the subseries), with a subset of records created by a campaign organizer - though other files suggest he may have been the Director of Communications at the time. Based on the contents of the files, the records appear to be created as follows:

• Files 392-17/18, and 392-20 to 394-02 created by Gerry Scott, Provincial Secretary
• Files 392-19, 394-03/09, and 395-30 to 398-02 created by Hans Brown, Provincial Secretary
• Files 394-10 to 395-29 appear to be created by Ron Johnson, campaign organizer and Director of Communications
• Files 398-3 to 398-08 created by Brian Gardiner, Provincial Secretary
  Materials in file 398-09 were found loose, unfiled with the polling materials created by Brian Gardiner, though their creator is uncertain.

Contains a draft of the "New Democratic Party of British Columbia Leadership 2003 Leadership Rules".