The Maple Leaf

Words such as innovation, recognition, integrity and leadership were on display during the 2012 Public Service Awards of Excellence. These words served as a reminder of what award winners from across the federal Public Service, including from the Defence Team, have achieved in their work.

Several members of the Defence Team were among the recipients of the Public Service-wide awards celebrating excellence. Ginette Jaques was recognized for her work promoting the use of Canada’s official languages in the CF, while several other Defence Team members [Captain(N) Joël Parent, Lieutenant-Commander Ted Summers and LCdr Jean-François Séguin] who were part of an interdepartmental group were acknowledged for their work in the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) Secretariat.

This event was a fitting kick-off to this year’s National Public Service Week (NPSW) celebrations. This year’s NPSW theme, “Celebrating our commitment”, was a great reflection of what the Public Service Award of Excellence represents.

This year, 252 recipients received awards for delivering results in a wide range of areas such as negotiating with partners on complex polices, fostering public service renewal among young public servants, providing opportunities for new Canadian families, and helping to preserve ecologically sensitive spaces.

“The selection committee had a huge challenge in determining who merited these awards this year,” said Liseanne Forand, selection committee president. “It was an impressive and extensive list of nominees, so we can all know that the award winners who are joining us today really do represent the ‘crème de la crème’.”

Ms. Jaques has been instrumental in changing the language culture of the CF in Kingston and within the local community. As coordinator of Official Languages, she kept linguistic duality at the front of the minds of commanders through a hectic operational pace.

The 15-year public servant loves what she does and enjoys working so closely with military members. “It’s been wonderful. I love where I am and love what I do,” she said. “The support is really incredible. Now, all I need is infrastructure,” she added with a laugh.

“It [the award] was very unexpected. It’s an honour to be recognized for what you love doing every day.”

The NSPS team was honoured for the implementation of the largest federal shipbuilding procurement program since the end of the Second World War. The team comprises members from several government departments under the leadership of Public Works and Government Services Canada. The dedicated team members come from the Defence Team, the Canadian Coast Guard and Industry Canada.

Working with such a diverse group wasn’t something totally new for the CF members who were part of the NSPS team.

 “As members of the naval engineering community, we often work closely with the civilian members of our team to achieve our goals,” said Capt(N) Parent. “In this case, we got to work very closely with individuals from a wide variety of departments, at many levels. So we had to be mindful of departmental goals and how to best achieve the desired outcomes for all involved.”

The NSPS team used a comprehensive and thorough selection process which incorporated many innovative and unique management practices with the two Canadian shipyards that have been selected to rebuild the fleets of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard.

“It has been very educational because we were given the opportunity to develop and implement a historic procurement process with lots of interaction with stakeholders, industry and third parties,” said Capt(N) Parent.

“We learned a lot from these interactions. It was rewarding in the sense that we were able to see a project from its initial conception through to completion (to the point where we signed Umbrella Agreements with the selected shipyards). Many of our colleagues do not get to see projects from start to finish, especially in shipbuilding with its long-term developmental projects.”

The 2012 recipients engaged and mobilized their colleagues and organizations, and demonstrated a commitment to improving the way that Canadians and business interact with their government. For more information, visit www.dt.mil.ca.