 |
|
VICTORIA – Premier Gordon Campbell honoured four individuals and five teams with 152 members for their outstanding achievement in British Columbia’s public service, presenting each with a Premier’s Award in Innovation and Excellence last night in Victoria.
Premier Campbell presented the awards in six categories at the annual awards ceremony, the B.C. Public Service’s pinnacle recognition event highlighting and acknowledging innovation, excellence and progressive management practices by provincial government employees.
“British Columbia is the best place on Earth in large part due to the hard work and dedication of our public servants,” said Campbell. “The women and men honoured this year are well recognized for their ingenuity, their determination and their passion for what they do, and their work exemplifies some of the very best of what’s possible in public service work.”
In the Cross-Government Integration category, the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation’s Negotiations Division won for negotiating the first three initialled agreements under the B.C. Treaty Commission process.
The Award for Innovation went to Murray Tekano and the Kicking Horse Canyon Project Team with the Ministry of Transportation in Golden for innovative solutions to construction challenges expected to save $18 million and shorten the construction timeline by 19 months.
The Award for Leadership was presented to Mark Gosse with the Ministry of Children and Family Development in Burnaby for guiding the provincial Youth Custody Services to become the first accredited custody program in North America.
The Award for Organizational Excellence went to the Debt Management Branch and Corporate and Project Finance Branch at the Ministry of Finance in Victoria for exceeding its performance benchmark every year since it was established in 1999.
In the Partnership Award category, the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands’ Crown Contaminated Sites Branch in Victoria and Surrey won for its Britannia Mine Remediation Project, decontaminating the mine site and reducing the discharge of heavy metals into Howe Sound by 95 per cent. The project was pursued as a public-private partnership that is expected to save $10 million compared to the cost if the project was undertaken by the Province alone.
The Service Excellence Award was won by the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance, and partners, for its Vancouver Coastal Homelessness Action Plan. The sustained success of their innovative pilot project saw 66 per cent of the people assisted still receiving support five months after the pilot and 80 per cent of those maintaining their housing.
Three individuals also received Special Achievement Premier’s Awards:
· Dena Carroll, from the Ministry of Children and Family Development in Victoria, for fostering the early childhood development of Aboriginal children across the province.
· Bob Pushak, from the Ministry of Children and Family Development in Penticton, for his key role in the development of two internationally-recognized education programs: Parenting Wisely and Children in the Middle.
· The late John Webb, from the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services in Victoria, for his pivotal role for over 11 years with the Network BC Project, facilitating community-level participation in expanding Internet connectivity to schools, libraries and homes throughout B.C. Mr. Webb, who had been sick for several months, died on March 17. His wife and other members of his family attended the awards ceremony.
A total of 65 nominations were submitted to a panel of independent adjudicators and judges for the 2007 Premier’s Awards, with the nine winners selected from 18 finalists.
The B.C. Public Service is the
largest corporate workforce in the province, with more than 30,000 people
working everyday to make a positive difference in the lives of four million
British Columbians.
More information on the winners and
the Premier's Innovation and Excellence Awards is available online at www.bcpublicservice.ca/premiersawards.
-30-
|
contact: |
Press Secretary Office of the Premier 250 213-8218 |
Communications Manager Ministry of Community Services 250 356-6334 |
|
|
||
|
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
||
