PM’s inbox got 1.4M emails last year

Prime Minister Stephen Harper received more than 1.7 million items of correspondence last fiscal year — including letters, emails, phone calls and “junk mail” — but the number of replies from his office has been sinking dramatically.

Email remains the most popular way Canadians are contacting the Prime Minister’s Office, followed by traditional paper snail mail, with phone calls losing popularity over the last five years.

Recently tabled federal reports show Harper received more than 1.4 million pieces of electronic mail in the 201213 fiscal year, and more than 320,000 pieces of paper mail.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office (through the Privy Council Office, which supports the prime minister and cabinet) sent 54,581 pieces of correspondence in reply to those messages. The number of replies from the PMO has steadily decreased over the last five years (from around 130,000 responses in 200809).

The government says the sharp difference between the correspondence received and the number of items sent is because things such as petitions, thank-you letters and some other messages don’t require a response.

Of the paper mail correspondence Harper received last fiscal year, 28,775 pieces were considered general mail; 12,408 priority mail; 232,187 items were considered “writein campaigns, junk mail, copies;” 39,049 greetings; and 8,035 labelled “others.”

Harper’s office received 13,141 telephone calls in the 2012-13 fiscal year, up from 10,907 calls the previous year.