September 25: Defence Team “Virtual Shout-Out” Bulletin Board

September 25, 2020 – Defence Stories

 

What better way to acknowledge a colleague’s contribution than by leaving them a “Virtual Shout-Out”? Your Virtual Shout-out will be featured in the Bulletin Board below, along with Defence Team members who have received acknowledgement from their colleagues.

Did you know that October is Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month (CHWM)? A special CHWM edition of the Bulletin Board will be published at the end of October, with a surprise guest delivering a special “shout-out”.

Please e-mail all requests for shout outs to the CARS at Awards-Recompenses@forces.gc.ca. Please also provide the email(s) of the person(s) being recognized, and how they help create a healthy work environment.

Looking for more ways to recognize your colleagues? If so, head to the HR-GO app and check out the Virtual Recognition Toolkit, located in the Awards and Recognition section.

September 25

The Valcartier Research Centre’s IT team has provided outstanding support during the pandemic situation we are experiencing. They have made it so that employees can reconnect with each other using the technology tools made available to us. They help each employee resolve their glitches so they can be operational as quickly as possible. Their expertise and great client service sensibility have helped set VRC employees up for success again. Thank you very much to all of you: Patrick Allaire, Daniel Bujold, Luc Rochon, Pierre-Olivier Soucy and Sylvain Nicole Marie‑Eve Pellicelli 


I would like to highlight the exemplary work of the nurses (officers or NCMs) who led work teams in the long-term care facilities (LTCFs) during Op LASER.  I witnessed their dedication to achieving the mission’s objective. Moreover, they listened to the concerns and needs of their members. They worked countless hours to help us keep on track every hour of every day, so that we can remain efficient and effective for the seniors. They had to work long hours, reducing their breaks, in order to attend the two CoC meetings during which they received information and provided reports. Nursing skills were very in demand in the LTCFs, and they did not have two minutes of rest because their workload was so high. They never let up and were on duty every day, despite physical and emotional fatigue that I can’t even begin to imagine. Despite this adversity, they were able to continue caring about our morale and well-being. As NCMs, we are used to receiving compliments from our superiors for jobs well done. I believe we must now recognize the quality of the work done by our nurses in charge of the personnel deployed to the LTCFs. THANK YOU! You made our work easier and more pleasant.— Cpl Nicholas Gagnon


Bravo Zulu to Capt Sarah Desjardins of 19 Wing Comox!! Sarah is the most dedicated and supportive officer I have ever worked with.  She has single handily kept the WCompt team focused and upadated throughout the COVID 19 crisis. Not only was she the Acting WComptroller when the pandemic began she was doing so short staffed.  She never failed to keep in touch with the entire office during the work from home situation, she was also at the forefront of implementing MSN Team meetings and coming up with fun ideas to keep in touch remotely. Sarah put in countless hours of overtime and much personal time helping her staff to deal with a myriad of events outside of the work environment. She has such a depth of knowledge for her trade and such compassion for her staff.  And to add additional fuel to the fire she remained fully dedicated and engaged while also preparing for her upcoming posting. Her gaining unit will be receiving one of the best.  She will be missed in Comox and I wish her all the best.– Kim Heath


Above and beyond is the norm for Ariana Coleman. When she is tasked with any work, she gets it done with ease. If there is ever a situation she is having trouble with, she has thoroughly done her research before reaching out to another team member for help. She recently helped me with a CV pull in which she had technical difficulty. Instead of turning down the task, she provided me with names of candidates, and respective page numbers to make the job easy for me to complete. Her hard work does not go unnoticed by her team members! – Kaitlin Crank


Christina Lee is always available and willing to help with questions, situations, and predicaments. She is my go-to for many things (whether she likes that or not). She is a wealth of staffing knowledge and I know that I can trust the answers she gives. Even in her busiest times, she is pleasant and patient with not only me, but everyone she deals with. – Kaitlin Crank


A virtual shout out and a sincere thank you to:  Heather Kilby, Nadia Cétoute, Sgt Amanda Claus, Sgt Gilles Lafrance, Sgt Joseph Ratcliffe, Olivier Fondjo, Stewart Grant, Steven Ritchie, Jade La Neuville-Gauthier, Brigitte Chan, Roxana Kendall, Matthew Cope, Erin Dwyer, George Al-Aaraj, Allison Cunningham, May Leong, Kimberly Dugay and Nathalie Campbell for your time, energy, and enthusiasm in being part of the DND/ CAF Careers – Pick your Passion Student event, held virtually July 29, 2020!   Your stories were authentic and inspiring, and through your experiences and advice I think you gave these students some great reasons to seriously consider a career with the Defence Team!  I know I was inspired and proud to be your colleague.  Thank you to all those who worked behind the scenes whether it was working the technology, or beautifying our slides, creating a survey or preparing invitations and informing guests and their managers.  This event would not have been possible without you and your contributions, we truly appreciate you being a part of it!  A special thank you to Heather Kilby, who meticulously planned and coordinated so many of the details behind the scenes! Thank you again I hope we will have more opportunities to collaborate in the future! – Shabana Khan


I would like to point out the accomplishments of Dr. Paul Bodurtha, Ms. Cheryl Jensen and Ms. Cara Bourgeois who, as members of the Chemical and Biological Assessment and Protection Section of DRDC Suffield Research Centre devised and executed an experimental plan to determine how the CAF could safely re-use of N95 masks as PPE immediately in the week before CAF members were deployed into nursing homes on QC and ON. Additionally, I would like to add kudos for Mr. Robert Hawrelak, the Equipment and Technical Support Engineer for DRDC Suffield Research Centre who redesigned and constructed improved enclosures for related scientific instruments that enabled this and subsequent research to happen. – Tim Munsie


Josée DeLéséleuc, thank you so much for your hard work as the Team Leader of the e-Staffing Team. I appreciate the time you have spent with me, bringing me up to speed and sharing your wealth of knowledge. Your efforts to clean up the backlogs are so greatly appreciated. – Heather Lougher-Goodey


Bravo zulu to WO Foster for his tireless support within 25 CF H Svcs C Bagotville. He is involved and dedicated in every area of the clinic’s activities, supports member and employee morale, provides advice to managers and ensures discipline that maintains the high level of services offered at the medical clinic. His involvement helps ensure healthy and friendly working conditions, despite the current pandemic. BZ!—Dany Daigle


A huge thanks to Judith Kovalski, Helene Thibeault and Capt Cook. While their primary roles are mental health clinicians, they are all IT savvy. They provided a lot of support and guidance to their colleagues to help them get comfortable with new tablets, virtual platforms for clinical work and meetings as well as wrote IT cheat sheets. Their efforts greatly assisted the Psychosocial team to make the move quickly to deliver mental health services through virtual means. – Capt Dorothy Salnikov


Don Neville, CMP, is the Chair of the Occupational Health and Safety Conditions Working Group on Business Resumption Planning.  He and the other members of the working group were instrumental in ensuring that as defence team members return to the workplace or who continue work remotely, they do so safely. Thank you. – Jason Park


Shout out to Clara Toulouse, for being a source of inspiration with your positivism, energy and ability to listen actively and communicate effectively in both official languages. Making yourself available to discuss challenges, being supportive when needed, exercising constant due diligence and enabling your team… I could go on for a while. Be the key point here is that it’s nice working for (and with) you and hopefully you receive this dose of gratitude and appreciation. Thank you Clara for leading the team like you do. – Nathaniel Bélanger


A huge thank you to Christina Lee and Kevin Bicharr Taniform for assisting the S&T staffing team over the past few months. Your excellent work and professionalism has enabled us to maintain quality services over the past few months. It has been a privilege to have you on the team!  – Pierre-Yves Néron


I am a social worker who – due to COVID – moved from Montfort hospital to Carling campus (in order to reduce number of clinicians at Montfort). When I (and two other colleagues) moved to the Carling site, there were an enormous amount of technical necessities and difficulties that needed to be attended to (how to get computer hardware, how to get phone access, how to operate photocopying, who to connect with regarding building passes and unit security issues). Ultimately, all kinds of issues that we needed a point person for. Our DCO connected us with Mr. Brian Beck to be sort of our “mr fix it, go to guy” for any and all issues related to adapting to Carling. Mr. Beck has been a real prince and a workhorse. Has attended to all of our issues with great competence, knowledge – and more – with always a smile. Super want to do a shout out to him – because I believe it matters when people go the extra mile. So….to Brian, really want to express my (and our) appreciation. – David Flynn


Shelley Bagg is a Superstar! The NSHT Projects’ Team would be lost without your encouragement, your expertise and the way you shine with light every day. It has been a whirlwind of change and you help us navigate new waters with ease. Tough times don’t last, but tough teams do! – A million thanks from Matt Cope and Bonnita Mitchell


Since the merger of our teams at the call centre (HR Connect), Ryan Hodgson has been able to make himself known and appreciated by his colleagues, his experience and expertise with systems have made him an important facilitator in the change, a great mentor and supporter. He helps his allies and he always has the right answers to the questions asked. It is very effective in solving problems. He is an invaluable employee and we are very proud to have him on our team. – Caroline Beaulieu

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