News release

Premier Recognizes Excellence in Public Service

Premier's Office

Government employees who developed an aquaculture environmental monitoring program and who produced a documentary about Mi'kmaw history and culture were among the recipients honoured today, June 12, with the Premier's Award of Excellence.

The award was presented to two teams and four individuals for contributions to Nova Scotia at a ceremony in Halifax.

"These employees demonstrate excellence in their fields of work and excellence in public service," said Premier Rodney MacDonald. "The award winners, in fact, represent the many thousands of Nova Scotia government employees who bring their skills and dedication to their public service roles every day, and I'm proud to work along side them."

The Premier's Award of Excellence is the highest honour of the Nova Scotia civil service. Established in 2006 by former premier John Hamm, the award program recognizes Nova Scotian civil servants for outstanding contributions and achievements.

Employees are nominated by co-workers. Civil servants, highway workers, correctional workers and recent retirees are eligible for nomination.

An external selection panel looked for nominations of team or individuals that demonstrated achievements in leadership excellence, innovation and creativity, outstanding client service, and creative relationship building. The selection panel evaluated 25 nominations according to impact, outcomes and how outcomes were achieved, and recommended six to receive the award.

"The quality of submissions we received reinforces that Nova Scotians are being well served by their provincial public service," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Minister of Human Resources. "We value our employees and what better way to show that than by celebrating their achievements."

Jamie Muir, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, presented the awards on behalf of Premier MacDonald at today's ceremony.

NovaScotian Crystal, Canada's only producer of handcrafted crystal was commissioned to create the award.

Winners of the second annual Premier's Award of Excellence are:

  • Group Intake Team A group of intake workers in the Department of Justice's Supreme Court family division in Sydney displayed innovation and creativity by leading a grassroots approach to redesign the delivery of the family law program. It reduced wait times for assessments and improved client satisfaction. Award recipients: Valerie MacPhee, Noreen Ann Marie Campbell, Janice Pottie, Belinda Cox, Arlene A. Tobin and Pamela Kachafanas.

  • Robert Gordon, Dean of Research A highly respected scientist working within Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Department of Agriculture, Mr. Gordon has dedicated his career to public service and has implemented creative and innovative solutions in agriculture and the environment in the Atlantic region. Mr. Gordon is regarded throughout Canada as a leading authority on climate-related issues.

  • Charles Weir, Jr., Industrial Relations Officer As a conciliator with the Department of Environment and Labour since 1996, Mr. Weir has been recognized for his commitment to service, excellence and professionalism in numerous successful conciliation/mediation cases. Over the past seven years, Mr. Weir logged 6,222 hours in direct conciliation and 744 hours in grievance mediation. He has made a major contribution to the Department’s 85 per cent success rate in grievance mediation and more than 97 per cent in conciliation, higher than the national average.

  • Sharon Davis-Murdoch, Senior Policy Analyst Ms. Davis-Murdoch developed the Diversity and Social Inclusion in Primary Health Care Initiative to raise awareness about the broad range of health issues and barriers affecting culturally diverse populations in Nova Scotia. A major outcome is the first Provincial Guidelines for Culturally Competent Primary Health Care in Canada.

  • John Soosaar, Communications Advisor Wabanaki: People of the Dawn is a video documentary produced by the Office of Aboriginal Affairs under the vision and leadership of Mr. Soosaar. Working closely with the Mi'kmaw community, the video helps to raise awareness of the culture and history of the Mi'kmaw people in Nova Scotia through the story of the Mersey River archeological site discovered in 2004.

  • Environmental Monitoring Program Team This team at the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture implemented the first comprehensive environmental monitoring program for more than 330 marine aquaculture sites throughout Nova Scotia. In just three years, the team developed a way to help ensure that aquaculture is environmentally sustainable in Nova Scotia. Award recipients: Marshall F. Giles, Toby Balch, Alan J. McNeill, Cyril Boudreau, Andrew Bagnall, Cory Aldous, Geordie MacLachlan, Mark TeKamp, and Lewis Clancey.

For more information about the Premier's Award of Excellence, this year's recipients and their work, visit www.gov.ns.ca .

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