My Accessible GC - Episode 3

(0:00-0:09) Screen Description: The screen reads: My Accessible GC (English) followed by Mon GC Accessible (French). On the right-hand side of the text, there is a circular logo of three stick figures, colored pink, blue and green with a black maple leaf in the centre. Surrounding the text are images of persons with physical and invisible disabilities. The background is image-gradient following the pink, blue and green colour scheme, which is associated with accessibility initiatives in the federal public service.

(0:09) Screen Description: In the top right corner of the screen it’s written: Recorded remotely via webcast. The screen features a close-up of Deputy Minister Yazmine Laroche speaking from her home in Ottawa.

(0:09-1:08) Yazmine Laroche: Hello everyone. Welcome to episode 3 of the My Accessible GC video series. I’m Yazmine Laroche, Deputy Minister of Public Service Accessibility.

Today I’m pleased to be joined by Melanie Provost, who is with the Workplace Solutions Team at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).

Mélanie, I’m delighted you are able to join us today.

I know there are some exciting things going on with accessibility at Public Services and Procurement Canada, otherwise known as PSPC, so I can’t wait for you to tell us about what your team is up to.

But first, tell us a bit about you, your role at PSPC and what the Workplace Solutions Team is all about?

(1:08-2:00) Screen Description: The screen now features a close-up of special guest Mélanie Provost speaking from her home.

(1:08-2:00) Mélanie Provost: Workplace Solutions is responsible for the modernization of the Government of Canada workplace. It establishes the vision of the workplace for the GC and oversees the national modernization program.

I work for the change management centre of expertise. On this great team, I am the coordinator of the Centre for GCworkplace Innovation. My tasks consist of organizing various workshops, training sessions and other activities related to the workplace and to innovation. I also test and evaluate new technologies and workplace design elements in our innovation lab. In the summer, I also accepted a new role of GCworkplace Accessibility Champion.

(2:00-2:20) Screen description: Screen now features a close-up of Deputy Minister Yazmine Laroche.

(2:00-2:20) Yazmine Laroche: That’s great. It’s fascinating and I’d like to talk a bit more about it. Are there some key ongoing or upcoming initiatives you’d like to tell us about? I’m hoping to hear about the GCworkplace Accessibility Consultation Series!

(2:20-3:53) Screen description: The screen switches back to featuring a close-up of Mélanie Provost.

(2:20-3:53) Mélanie Provost: Of course! The GCworkplace Consultation Series on Accessibility is one of our major initiatives at the moment. It is a series of virtual consultation workshops where we ask persons with disabilities to talk to us about the barriers they face in their workplace. The series consists of 14 sessions, 7 in English and 7 in French where we will discuss the needs for 7 types of disabilities. To date, we have received over 150 registrations from more than 25 government departments! The interest in the series is such that we are looking at the possibility of adding more sessions since some are already full. Following the sessions, we will prepare various reports on lessons learned and best practices and we will offer information sessions on these reports. All the details will be on our GCpedia page. Our first preliminary report on mobility, flexibility or dexterity issues should be available within a few weeks.

We have also created a community of practice on GCconnex to allow us to continue the discussions following the consultation series. I invite everyone to join it! Within the next few months, we will include on that page our accessibility initiatives on the workplace as well as answers to your questions.

(3:53-4:04) Screen description: Screen once again features a close-up of DM Laroche.

(3:53-4:04) Yazmine Laroche: Thank you to all of you for listening. This concludes another episode of My Accessible GC. Goodbye and see you soon.

(4:04-4:14) Screen Description: The screen reads: My Accessible GC (English) followed by Mon GC Accessible (French). On the right-hand side of the text, there is a circular logo of three stick figures, colored pink, blue and green with a black maple leaf in the centre. Surrounding the text are images of persons with physical and invisible disabilities. The images are gradient-coloured following the pink, blue and green colour scheme, which is associated with accessibility initiatives in the federal public service. Image fades away with a black background that emerges with the Government of Canada logo in white appearing in the centre.