The work that public servants at all levels do is critical to Canadians, but too often one gets the impression that the work is taken for granted. APEX (the Association of the Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada) gives out its annual Awards of Excellence this month, and CGE celebrates with all public servants their “uniquely important contributions.”

 

Career Contribution

Rachel Corneille-Gravel

The executive director of Ste. Anne’s Hospital in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Gravel has been helping heal and improve the standard of living of Canada’s war veterans since 1974.

Over her many years of dedicated service, she has had the opportunity to contribute to a wide variety of improvement programs. One of the biggest was a $114 million project that created more secure, private rooms for veterans, in addition to a variety of other improved services.

Gravel has also been involved in clinical research to improve the lives of veterans. She has pioneered pain clinics and helped establish a foundation for the hospital. “I had a ‘zillion’ dreams that I was able to put into action,” she said. “I could retire now, but my next challenge is to shape the future for Ste. Anne’s.”

The most fulfilling part of working in the public service, she says, is working alongside dedicated and devoted staff who share similar values, and the opportunity to work so closely with Canada’s veterans. “Because our clients are here, we see them every day,” she said. “We are able to be very close to them. Being committed to excellence, and working with compassionate, devoted and efficient staff is really fulfilling. We are loyal to our values; it really helps in creating a climate where people are happy.”

Gravel believes the public sector is important to Canadians because of the value it places on service.

“It provides Canadians with ethical, high levels of service,” she said. “Ethical and equitable service and accessibility to those services reflect the values of Canadian society.”

The biggest challenges currently facing the public sector are finding ways to continue providing high levels of service to the public while managing costs and coping with Canada’s aging workforce, she said. “There are so many senior people with expertise that will be leaving in the next few years; it’s going to be a huge adjustment for the public sector.”

 

Leadership

Andy Netzel

Netzel oversaw the smooth transition of the former British Columbia/Alberta/Territories (BAT) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (MB-SK) regions of Service Canada into the Western Canada and Territories Region, the largest geographical region of Service Canada. The regions executive head of service management, he has worked in the public sector since 1978, when he took a position in the financial services department for the Employment and Immigration Commission in Vancouver.

The most fulfilling aspect of working in the public sector is accomplishing important goals that provide cost-effective, quality services for Canadians, he said. The public sector is important to Canadians because of the wide variety of quality services it offers the public. “Canadians rely on the public service for those things they cannot get anywhere else. It’s a huge, broad number of services. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s always something different and always challenging. You’re never bored working for the government, especially in this department.”

 

Leadership in Service Innovation

David Coderre and Christian Lohyer

Coderre is the director of the internal audit sector director for the Office of the Comptroller General for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. He won the award as team leader, alongside team member Christian Lohyer, for working with departmental auditors across the government to define a standard financial data extract. His team fundamentally changed the way auditing is done in the government, from a manual process to one that uses data analysis.

“Internal Audits is very fulfilling because you’re getting a chance to look at a broad spectrum of issues,” Coderre said. “By working in audits, you get to look at everything and help improve it, help government run more efficiently and smoothly.”

Coderre said the public sector is important to Canadians because it can provide a number of things to society as a whole and it helps ensure Canada has room to grow and prosper. “You act as a regulator, trying to make things run more smoothly,” Loyher added.

 

Partnership

Arthur Ding

Ding is the Warden of Grande Cache Institution, a minimum security facility in Grande Cache, Alberta. The correctional facility employs 133 employees and can hold up to 243 inmates. Ding has worked in the public sector for 31 years, including in four prisons, and served 19 years as a correctional officer at a maximum-security facility.

He was recognized for his strong track record of delivering result-driven services to the Canadian public in an efficient and productive manner. “I understand the need to practise these values and deliver citizen-focused and result-driven services to the Canadian public,” he said.

Ding said the most fulfilling aspect of working in the public sector is upholding the values and needs of Canadians. “I feel very privileged to be part of the process that makes a difference in the quality of life of Canadians and the healthy development of our country. This country is built on a democratic system, and the public service represents agendas voted in by Canadians. Canadians expect the public service to uphold their values and meet their needs.”

He believes the biggest challenge facing the public service is the mass retirement of the baby boomers. “We’re experiencing a shortage of trained employees,” he said. “It takes time to program and train an individual.”

 

Public Service Citation

Larry Murray

Murray joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1964. He spent 31 years in the Canadian Forces, working in various high-ranking positions including deputy chief of staff for personnel and training at Maritime Command Headquarters, rear-admiral, vice-admiral and deputy chief of the defence staff.

After leaving the military in 1997, he began working as the associate deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Murray has also worked as deputy minister of Veteran Affairs Canada, and deputy minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

He retired in 2007, but still volunteers his time with several organizations and committees, dealing with a variety of public and private sector issues. Last year, Murray was named grand president of The Royal Canadian Legion.

What he found most fulfilling about working in the public sector was making a difference for Canadians while working in a positive, team environment with people that cared. “Having been in the Navy, that has always appealed to me,” Murray said. “Whatever your specialty, it’s really a team thing.”

The public sector is important to Canadians, he said, because it looks after a wide range of services that cannot be done by the private sector. “There’s a range of things the public sector needs to do, and needs to do at an arm’s length away from the profit motivation. The public good issues are probably better done by the public rather than by the private sector; (however), I do think there’s a balance there, too. Without the private sector we wouldn’t have funding coming through the door to do it.”

He sees attracting younger generations into public service careers as the bigge