While it makes economic sense for the provincial government to contract out its printing services, care should be taken that the 鈥淨ueen鈥檚 Printer鈥� designation on a book or document is not devalued.
B.C.鈥檚 Queen鈥檚 Printer is winding down its printing services, as officials have determined that shifting the work to the private sector will save money. The 155-year-old Crown agency, housed in its 1928 art-deco building on Superior Street, uses printing presses that predate the digital age and are nearing the end of their operating life. Replacing that equipment would be costly, so having the printing work done elsewhere seems a sound business decision.
But the Queen鈥檚 Printer can鈥檛 outsource its reputation. It is much more than a collection of printing presses.
As retired librarian Richard Mackenzie puts it: 鈥淭o me, the Queen鈥檚 Printer meant more than the production of government reports, ephemera and monographs; it meant a standard of editorship and production values. The Queen鈥檚 Printer was a hallmark of scholarship and high production values, and the authenticated voice of the Crown.鈥�
Mackenzie said that in acquiring books, librarians look for the credibility of publishers.
鈥淚f you see 鈥楺ueen鈥檚 Printer,鈥� you know the veracity is unquestionable, that the material has been done by professionals in their fields,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you looked at the title page and saw 鈥楺ueen鈥檚 Printer,鈥� you didn鈥檛 have to see two or three reviews to determine a book鈥檚 worth.鈥�
Queen鈥檚 Printers (or King鈥檚 Printers, when a male monarch reigned) were established in Great Britain and throughout the British empire to publish official government documents. B.C.鈥檚 Queen鈥檚 Printer dates back to 1859, when colonial governor James Douglas ordered the Royal Engineers to establish a printing office in New Westminster. By 1863, the printing office was operating out of one of the wooden Parliament buildings known as the Birdcages. When the new legislature was completed, the printing office moved into the west wing of the complex.
Demand for government printing services grew through the 1920s, necessitating new premises. The building on Superior Street was completed in 1928, and the Queen鈥檚 Printer has operated in that building ever since.
While the glory days of the Queen鈥檚 Printer might be past, the building that houses the agency remains one of the most distinctive pieces of B.C. government architecture, other than the legislature. It should continue to be an important location for government services; at the same time, every effort should be made to preserve it as the heritage gem that it is.
While the Queen鈥檚 Printer will not be doing the actual printing, the agency needs to ensure that its standards are maintained as printing contracts are awarded to the private sector. One of the attributes of the agency was its mandate to maintain strict confidentiality regarding government documents, which is easier to do when the printing is done in-house.
That isn鈥檛 to say commercial printers are not trustworthy 鈥� ensuring the confidentiality of their clients鈥� printed material is important 鈥� but when a document such as the provincial budget is involved, security needs to be advanced to the highest level.
Printers will also need to be flexible 鈥� the ebb and flow of government operations sometimes means changes will have to be made on the fly.
Beyond technical competence, though, is the need to maintain the Queen鈥檚 Printer鈥檚 standards of excellence. In the murky and tumultuous waters of politics, the Queen鈥檚 Printer has been a stable island of quality, credibility and reliability.
Regardless of who does the printing and where, that should not change.
