Update, 13 April 2007

"An Alternate Service Level for the City of Regina Archives"

We had been concerned that, given the responsibilities of the City Clerk's Office, City of Regina, any cuts (proposed at $60,000) would likely harm its ability to properly manage and provide access to the current and historical records documenting the City. These proposed cuts appeared unnecessary in view of proposed increases to other departments, particularly Communications.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It now appears clear that the proposed budget cut within the City Clerk's Office will specifically result in some change to the City Archives. That unit currently is staffed only by one professional archivist and one assistant (currently on secondment). The Archives' non-salary budget is correspondingly low. We are extremely concerned that any cut - particularly a reduction of $60,000 - can only result in significant harm to both public service and the ability of the City of Regina Archives to continue to acquire, preserve, and make accessible the permanently valuable records of the City.

In response to some letters sent to the City concerning the matter of the budget cut, the City Clerk's Office has refused petitioners the ability to speak to the broad proposed budget at Council on April 17th, and has referred them to a more detailed meeting of the Finance and Administration Committee on May 8th. That meeting is reviewing the specifics of how each department is managing its budget within the framework established by the proposed budget as a whole. Significantly, the City Clerk's written response has included the statement: "An alternate service level for the City of Regina Archives will be considered by the Finance and Administration Committee on May 8th."

We would greatly appreciate additional e-mails being sent directly to Regina city councillors before Tuesday's budget meeting. We are not confident that e-mails sent only to the general e-mail address ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) will be forwarded to councillors, particularly after the deadline for briefs. Names and full contact information are available in the information package at http://scaa.sk.ca/cityregina.php. Their e-mail addresses are as follows: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sincerely,
Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists

Key messages:

• the budget of the City Clerk's Office is being cut by about $60,000 in 2007. This represents a cut far beyond what will be achievable through "efficiencies" and will surely result in a reduction in services
• in response to letters received already on the broad proposed budget, the City Clerk has said that "An alternate service level for the City of Regina Archives will be considered," clearly indicating that cuts to the City Archives are planned.
• with only one archivist on staff now, one has to ask what would be left after a reduction in service. Public access to the archives and ongoing acquisitions, as well as the Archives' ability to provide meaningful support to City Council and Administration, would most likely be in question
• given the proposed increases city-wide, including one-time costs for communications initiatives, with minor reallocations we believe it would be possible to maintain the current level of funding for the Archives without compromising other City initiatives. This is an issue to be addressed at the special budget meeting on April 17.
• The civic corporation itself, as well as students, teachers, historical researchers, genealogists, journalists, social and political activists, property owners, local historians and any one else who ever wanted to know why things are the way they are have a vested interest in timely and effective access to the archival records of the City of Regina
• across Canada, Fredericton and Charlottetown (substantially smaller communities than Regina) are the only provincial capitals that don't have city archives. Red Deer - population 67,000 - has a better-staffed city archives than Regina. It would be shocking if Regina - where almost 1/5 of Saskatchewan's people live - effectively lost its City Archives