The Public Service Award of Excellence 2022

Todd Alteman, Correctional Service Canada

Todd Alteman, a dedicated Correctional Officer with 28 years of service at William Head Institution, has shown exceptional commitment to public safety and offender rehabilitation. As the Community Service Escorting Officer, Todd has fostered connections with local organizations such as Food Banks and the Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre, engaging offenders in meaningful community work. His efforts promote a positive image of the Correctional Service of Canada and educate the public about the benefits of community service programs for both offenders and society. Todd’s exemplary approach has garnered praise from employers, resulting in job opportunities for offenders during and after their sentences. His proactive and impactful efforts greatly contribute to offender reintegration and community engagement.

Kusala Jayasuriya, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Kusala demonstrates a continued commitment to service excellence by providing innovative client-centric services to Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Accelerated Growth Service clients. She has ensured that all of her clients, regardless how small or big a business it is, receive exceptional service that is timely, accessible, reliable, and customized to their needs. She has a passion for supporting businesses owned/led by equity groups including women, racialized groups, and 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. She shares lessons learned and best practises with her colleagues to improve client service. Kusala brings superior project management skills, in-depth knowledge of several priority sectors, exceptional data management practices, and a natural ability to develop strong partnerships, all of which have contributed to her strong performance in her profession.

Samantha MacPhail, Employment and Social Development Canada

Samantha MacPhail, a Service Canada Team Leader in Victoria, was instrumental in the first person in Canada receiving a replacement passport in her reclaimed Indigenous name. After this client requested service per the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 17, Samantha passionately advocated for advancing the federal government’s 2015 TRC commitment and showed that transformation is possible. Service Canada implements policy rather than develops it, so for three months Samantha worked tirelessly intra- and inter-governmentally for: 1) National policy change; and 2) A client exemption before the new 2021 policy ensuring a timely service response aligned with reconciliation.

George Madden, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Chaplain Madden became the Alberta Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Chaplain Coordinator in 2017. With his passion for employee wellness, he built the most diverse and inclusive program in the country including female, Indigenous Elders, Military & Veterans chaplains offering support in over 20 faiths. During the pandemic, as Vice President- Canadian Police Chaplains Association, he developed and made available numerous on-line training courses for police chaplains across the country. George was recently awarded the RCMP Commissioner’s Commendation for Outstanding Service and the Alberta Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal recognizing the impact of his leadership, innovation and dedication.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, Health Canada

An accomplished, Harvard-educated pediatrician, Dr. Supriya Sharma is devoted to serving Canadians in the health portfolio, and she is best known as a trusted public communicator, sharing much-needed information regarding health products, particularly during the COVID-19 response. She has a gift for explaining complex health-related issues in a clear, conversational way, outlining the key details needed by Canadians. Beyond her contributions toward demystifying health sciences for the public, she also plays a key role in Health Canada by providing expert medical advice — based on her thorough analysis of evidence — to help navigate complex scientific and regulatory issues.

Canada Disability Savings Program Web Optimization Project, Employment and Social Development Canada

• Joyce Amponsah
• Erin Browning
• Tess Corkery
• Shawna Guy
• Sarah Goebel
• Cora Hansen
• Anne Hoatua
• Eric Hutt
• Meagan Pacha
• David Pepin
• Jennifer Soucy

The Canada Disability Savings Program Web optimization project team were successful in their work thanks to their humility, collaboration, and commitment to client service excellence. The multi-disciplinary team combined their expertise in Program operations, usability research and accessible content design to deliver an improved web presence that has demonstrated a near doubling in usability, and a 15% increase in web traffic since the product launch. Their teamwork and enthusiasm have inspired other Programs to take on their own optimization projects so that the Government can continue working to better serve users across all its service offerings.

The consular teams at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa and in the Dominican Republic , Global Affairs Canada

• Giuseppe Raffaele Basile
• Maxim Bellemare
• Nicole Guerra
• Collin Holditch
• Meiling Lavigueur
• Milagros Martel
• Sugey Robles
• Antonia Wynne-Hughes

The consular teams at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa and in the Dominican Republic exemplified “Excellence in Profession” through their commitment to a complex consular incident. The team collaborated over many months with a range of departmental, interdepartmental and external stakeholders to develop and implement a robust, broadly consulted case strategy and to deliver weekly briefings to senior management and the Minister’s office, all the while seeking to mitigate impacts on the wellbeing of the client. This sustained, creative and dedicated engagement ultimately resulted in a successful resolution.

Counter Cybercrime Team, Communications Security Establishment

Communications Security Establishment (CSE)’s Counter Cybercrime team has used CSE’s legal mandate and cutting-edge capabilities to reduce the impact of cybercrime on Canadian organizations and individuals. Working with Canadian and allied partners, the team has disrupted the activities of foreign-based cybercriminals, reducing their ability to launch ransomware attacks and to profit from the sale of stolen information. Through their innovations and exceptional contributions, the team has shown Canada to be a strong contributor in the global fight against cybercrime.

Modernization of Resettlement Assistance Program – Income Support Payments Team , Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

• Janick Arcand
• Evie Barnes
• Isabelle Beausoleil
• Krista Cairns
• Kathy Condy
• Mélanie Gaudet
• Yaël Gaudreau
• Charles Martin
• Rabii Lahlou Mimi
• Kristi Plastino
• Victoria Rosales
• Marie-Josée Taillon

Over the past two years, the collaboration of four teams utilizing Robotic Process Automation and secure Webforms has revolutionized the payment process for over 6,500 refugees in the Resettlement Assistance Program. The result? A remarkable reduction in payment processing time, from 15 days down to just 2 days, greatly enhancing refugees’ access to vital funds upon their arrival. Automated beneficiary database management has also boosted security by minimizing cheque loss and fraud risks. Driven by a humanitarian goal, this achievement positively impacts taxpayers, reducing costs while improving services for vulnerable refugees.

Kenza Sallier, Statistics Canada

Kenza is an exceptional leader who has been instrumental to the success of the Canadian Census of Population. She led the production of a model predicting final response rates and collection costs, contributing to a successful Census data collection which will provide insights to Canadians in the coming years. Additionally, Kenza contributed to the Data Disaggregation Action Plan, thereby supporting government and societal efforts to address known inequalities and promote fair and inclusive decision-making. Kenza is also an active participant in a United Nation Economic Commissions for Europe initiative in developing guidelines for producing synthetic data for the public good.

Joanne Jiwon Yoon, Statistics Canada

Joanne has demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to excellence, leading various successful innovative projects, while training junior data scientists on the latest Natural Language Processing tools and techniques. She was awarded the 2023 International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS) joint-first Prize for Young Statisticians, for her research paper stemming from her remarkable work on Census of Population comment classification. As Chair of the StatCan Professional Network, she’s partnered with agency experts to host events that support young professionals’ career development and well-being. Since 2019, Joanne has led the Interdepartmental Machine Learning for Text Analysis Community of Practice, bringing together representatives from over 20 federal departments for monthly discussions of their projects, and generating valuable opportunities for partnerships and capacity building across the government.

Young Professionals Network Vision 2030 Task, Global Affairs Canada

• Marissa Fortune
• Marissa Frey
• Janine Hutchison
• Yitong Mona Jia
• Julien Labrosse
• Miguel A. Rozo
• Sejal Tiwari
• Katelynn Wynen

The Young Professionals Network’s Vision 2030 Task Force demonstrated incredible leadership, professionalism, and innovation through their efforts to consult, distill and share a youth-crafted forward-looking Vision for the future of Global Affairs Canada (GAC). They outlined a creative and ambitious change agenda and recommendations that were presented to GAC’s Ministers, deputy ministers, senior leadership, and the Senate of Canada. The work has had a lasting impact and continues to be instrumental in informing several forward-looking initiatives at Global Affairs Canada, including the Future of Diplomacy Initiative and GAC’s Transformation agenda. They exemplify excellence in their commitment to the values of the public service and to its continuous improvement.

Data Acquisition and Management Group , Canadian Space Agency

• Emmanuelle Albrecht
• Eric Arsenault
• Bob T. Banik
• Stéphane Côté
• Daniel De Lisle
• Jean-Michel Fournier
• Jonathan Lajoie
• Mélanie Lapointe
• Cédric Pelland

The year 2021-2022 was marked by major events, including major natural disasters and events of international significance, such as the loss of the Sentinel-1B satellite by the European Space Agency. In response to such events, and notwithstanding operational, time and resource constraints, the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Data Acquisition and Management Group (DAMG), together with the three RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) satellites, remarkably provided indispensable support to the international community. DAMG is proud to have provided day-to-day assistance – such as crop monitoring in Europe and ice monitoring in Antarctica – as well as helping to promote the CSA and Canada worldwide.

COP15 Key Contributors, Environment and Climate Change Canada

• Andrea Bain
• Carolina Caceres
• Iwan Chan
• Kelly Cowper
• Julie Clavet-Drolet
• Katherine Dillistone
• Carolyn Fox
• Patricia Laurin
• Cheice Sorbie
• Tonina Simeone
• Lauren Small
• Kelly Torck
• Rachel Vallender
• Basile van Havre
• Scott Wilson

The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), held in Montréal in December 2022, hosted around 13,000 delegates from 196 countries. Nominees led the rapid organization of COP15, ensuring safety, sustainability, diversity, and showcasing Canada’s values. They played a crucial role in negotiating a historic Global Biodiversity Framework to combat biodiversity loss, starting with and including co-chairing the multilateral negotiation process leading to the COP, and involving Indigenous groups and civil society. Their effective communication efforts highlighted Canada’s leadership. In less than 5 months, their tireless work and collaboration led to the successful COP15, enhancing Canada’s global image and putting biodiversity on a better path.

National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, Women and Gender Equality Canada

• Jessica Bertrand
• Nelly Desrosiers
• Diane Gauthier
• Hoori Hamboyan
• Andrea Hill
• Kim Hinds
• Carrolyn Johnston
• Kathy Kingsbury
• Tanya Lary
• Frédérique Lefort
• Yasmin Mussa
• Jessica Pautz
• Rebecca Stienstra
• Victoria Thomas

During the pandemic, a time when gender-based violence became known as the “shadow pandemic”, the Gender-Based Violence Team worked under extraordinary circumstances to develop and secure funding for the first ever 10-year National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. While developing this historic plan, the team was caring for their families and one another in a remote work environment, working extraordinary hours on a very sensitive and complex issue, and juggling their own mental and physical health though through lock downs and a public health crisis. Their extraordinary efforts included undertaking a profound level of collaboration with provincial and territorial governments at a time when they were preoccupied by overburdened health care systems struggling with COVID. The team worked closely with Indigenous partners to identify priorities and develop a specific pillar focused on Indigenous led approaches to address gender-based violence. Further, the team engaged civil society organizations who developed over 1,000 recommendations to inform the National Action Plan. The team’s inspiring work in a limited time amidst a global pandemic resulted in a federal-provincial-territorial framework for joint action that respects jurisdictional authorities; supports victims, survivors, and their families across Canada; improves health, social and economic outcomes of those impacted by gender-based violence and will ultimately end gender-based violence.

Indigenous Statistical Capacity Development Initiative, Statistics Canada

• Tommy Akulukjuk
• Cindy-Ann Bryant
• Kathleen Byrne
• Olayou Carrière
• Sara Leah Hindy
• Kesley Manimtim
• Jerry Potts
• Nicholas Printup
• Jen Schultz
• Raelyn Thomson

The Indigenous Statistical Capacity Development Initiative (ISCDI) team exemplifies the public sector values of diversity, respect, and inclusion and have been pivotal in raising awareness of relationships and interactions between First Nations people, Métis and Inuit and the broader Canadian population and governments. To encourage empathy, respect, and inclusivity on the path to reconciliation, ISCDI delivered 42 Indigenous Cultural Awareness sessions to 900 Statistics Canada employees, including to the Chief Statistician and Senior Management. The team’s commitment to the truth of our history and thoughtful human connection to training promote understanding and support an inclusive and respectful public service.

Jason Bett, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

As the Pride Champion for the Government of Canada for the last 5 years, Jason has spearheaded inclusivity efforts 2SLGBTQIA+ public servants. In 2018, he founded the Public Service Pride Network, fostering dialogue, support, and policy advocacy. Under his leadership, the Network has introduced targeted initiatives aimed at creating a safe space at work for 2SLGBTQIA+ employees to be their authentic and true selves, while also fostering the development of the next generation of 2SLGBTQIA+ leaders in the federal public service. Jason has recently accepted the new role of Visiting Senior Advisor for 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusion at the Canada School of Public Service.

Florence François, National Film Board of Canada

In 2022, Florence felt that her colleagues across the country needed an open, non-hierarchical space where everyone could speak out about racism and hear from anyone who felt discriminated against, as well as anyone who had concerns or felt uncomfortable with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)’s new commitments to equity. With support from management, she organized discussions in a safe space. She later founded RESPECT@NFB with seven colleagues, including NFB union members and HR staff. This action group’s goals are to listen to concerns about discrimination and to support members of communities who seek equity, as well as their allies, on their journey.

Maryse O’Neill, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

For thirty-four years Maryse O’Neill has been employed with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and has acted as an inspiration for those around her as she delivered outstanding results while continuously demonstrating professionalism, integrity, and strong ethics. Maryse has been a leader in the resurgence of immigration in Atlantic Canada to ensure newcomers successfully launch their lives in Canada and make it their home. Maryse has made a difference every day as a public servant and mentored hundreds of public servants who will go on to change the world for the better for years to come.

Sena Paradis, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Since 1992, Sena operationalized transformative change in relationships with Indigenous Peoples. As Chief Negotiator, she led Canada’s inter-departmental team to bring the Tla’amin Treaty into effect through legislation and was a Negotiator for Maa-nulth Treaties, among other agreements. At the executive level, she oversaw and led teams to secure innovative, co-developed Cabinet mandates and Treasury Board approvals to implement transfers of governance and funding. She led Whole-of-Government collaboration among Fisheries and Oceans, Transport and Justice to entrench meaningful change. She coached leaders and teams empowering performance, while overseeing a wellness committee, coaching for Building Black Leaders and modelling inclusive leadership.

Dr. Gregory J. Smallwood, National Research Council Canada

Dr. Greg J. Smallwood’s career is exemplary of a visionary scientist with an enduring personal commitment to translating his ground-breaking fundamental research on transportation-related black carbon into innovative national and international science-informed environmental policy. Since joining in 1988, he has exemplified the National Research Council Canada ’s values of integrity, respect, excellence, and creativity. During the pandemic, he applied his expertise in particulates to quickly develop a measurement technique to assess the quality of N95 masks, providing critical assessment standards for the Canadian government. His dedication to improving and protecting the lives of Canadians and others worldwide makes him the finest of public servants.

Chair

• Catherine Blewett
  Deputy Minister, Economic Development, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and President of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Members

• Serge Bijimine
  Assistant Deputy Minister, Transport Canada
• Martha Chaparro
  Workforce Programs Employee Recognition and Awards Program Coordinator, Public Safety Canada
• Eric Costen
  Associate Deputy Minister, Health Canada
• Alexandra Dostal
  Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Anna Fontaine
  Visiting Executive, Workplace Wellness and Engagement, Canadian Heritage
• Sam Macharia, Ph. D.
  Ministerial Secretary, Crown-Aboriginal Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
• Tim Pettipas
  Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office of Canada
• Mehdi Sheikh
  Project Management Advisor, Statistics Canada

Secretary

• Caroline Sarazin-Normand
  Chief of Staff, Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer