Province Celebrates Excellence in French-language Services

Provincial government employees are being recognized today, March 27, for outstanding contributions to programs and services in French at the Bonjour! Awards for Excellence in French-language Services in Halifax.

This is the third year the Bonjour! Awards have recognized provincial government employees. Public servants are nominated by colleagues and the public.

"The Bonjour! Awards are an opportunity to celebrate Nova Scotia's Acadian and francophone culture," said Acadian Affairs Minister Graham Steele, who presented the awards. "Congratulations and thank you to today's award recipients."

Those recognized are:

• Richard Burton, for Excellence in Leadership
• The Acadian flag licence plate team, for Excellence in
  Program Development
• Heather-Anne Gillis, for Excellence in Service Delivery
  to the Public

Mr. Burton is the regional co-ordinator of maintenance enforcement, at the Department of Justice in Kentville. He is being recognized for encouraging and helping employees to complete training in French-language legal terminology. His leadership ensures that Acadians and francophones have access to legal support services in their own language.

The Acadian flag licence plate team at Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations developed and launched a licence plate celebrating Acadian heritage, based on consultation with the Acadian and francophone community about the plate's design. A special fund called the Vive L'Acadie Community Support Fund was also created to distribute a donation fee collected with the plates to cultural projects in each purchaser's community.

Ms. Gillis is the main receptionist at the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal's head office in Halifax. She ensures an active offer of French-language services by displaying Bonjour! visual identification program material in the reception area and by greeting people she knows or overhears speaking in French with a warm, friendly "Bonjour!"

Nominations for the 2013 Bonjour! Awards for Excellence in French-language Services will be accepted in the fall.