At its annual National Awards ceremony on May 1, 2018, DCC honoured the contributions and exemplary service of individuals from across the organization, with a few expressly focussed on diversity.
Here are the 2018 recipients:
- The Service Development Award recognizes an employee or group of employees for making a notable contribution to developing and promoting value-added Client-Partner services. Trevor Clark, Team Leader, Program Management from the National Capital Region received this award for the development of the Real Property Operations—North Detachment Yellowknife program and projects.
- The Innovation Award is presented to an employee or group of employees who have played an instrumental role in developing and implementing an innovative solution. Alain Tessier, Program Leader at Garrison Valcartier was presented with this award for implementing a software program to consolidate planning-related information that resulted in time-saving reporting.
- The Robert Graham Memorial Award recognizes an employee or team who makes a special contribution to improving workplace safety or environmental protection. The award was presented to the Environmental Services Team at CFB Bagotville, including Geneviève Gobeil, Josée Hamel, Lisa-Gabrielle Plourde, Jonathan Tremblay and Anne-Marie Vézina, for enhancing the quality and range of environmental services to DCC's Client-Partner.
- The Customer Satisfaction Award (Individual) acknowledges the employee who consistently provides exemplary customer service and whose contribution has exceeded normal job expectations. Mélanie Cyr, Coordinator, Construction Services at Garrison Petawawa was presented with the award for her outstanding customer service, in particular the coordination of the new energy performance contract (EPC) at the base.
- The Customer Satisfaction Award (Team) acknowledges the team who consistently provides exemplary customer service and whose contribution has exceeded normal job expectations. The award went to the Canadian Forces Housing Agency (CFHA) Team from Garrison Petawawa—composed of Peter Darrah, Bernie Finucane, Kris Gorr, Arne Kristoffersen, Jonathan Lee and Jeffrey White. The team won for their implementation and delivery of the $17.9-million CFHA maintenance and services contract.
- The Diversity and Inclusion Award is given to an employee or group of employees that has demonstrated exceptional leadership in building or supporting a diverse workforce, and championing an inclusive workplace. The first-ever recipient of this award was Tejeet Sodhi, Regional Service Line Leader, Project and Program Management Services for the Atlantic Region. Tejeet was recognized with this award for his success in building and mentoring a diverse DCC team along with his personal commitment to diversity.
- Three President’s Certificates of Recognition were also presented during the ceremony. Certificates may be awarded, at the President’s discretion, to one or more nominees who have made an outstanding contribution to DCC. In 2018, certificates were awarded to:
- The Western Region and NCR UXO Team composed of Maria Drake, Eric Gilbertson, Phil Grandy, Julia Koziell, Kristoffer Seiler, Jennifer Sevigny and Shane Thomas. The team was recognized for respectful and inclusive approach in successfully working with First Nations groups on UXO clean-up work.
- The Head Office Communications Team of Yves-Marie Exumé, Lucie Frigon, Erica Lyle, Stéphanie Magnan and Megan O’Meara received the certificate for their pioneering work in championing diversity and inclusion in DCC’s corporate communications processes, procedures and practices over many years.
- The Halifax DRDC DA26 Contract Management Team of Darrell Ferguson and Peter Zwicker were recognized for the development of a highly innovative construction solution that resulted in significant cost and time savings.
- The President's Award is presented annually to the employee who has consistently demonstrated exemplary service to DCC and achieved exceptional results. David Long, Team Leader, Construction Services at CFB Kingston was presented with the award for his outstanding leadership and ongoing exemplary service to DCC—most notably the Royal Military College Sawyer-Girouard Complex renovation. His strong leadership skills, commitment to all stakeholders, and never-ending pursuit of delivering a quality product has been integral to the successful delivery of the complex project.
At the ceremony in Ottawa, James Paul, President and CEO, recognized the outstanding work—and diversity—of employees supporting DCC's Client-Partners and the Government of Canada. “I’ve always considered DCC’s strength to be in its diversity, not only in terms of our employee representation, but also in terms of the diversity of expertise and services we offer our Client-Partners.”
Long-time industry veteran Don Chutter (Revay and Associates Limited and the Canadian Construction Association) was the recipient of the Friends of DCC Award. DCC presents this award on occasion to formally recognize and thank an individual for their collaboration and strong working relationship with DCC over many years. DCC also welcomed the new Chair of the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), Zey Emir, who shared her remarks regarding CCA's priorities for the year, as well as acknowledging the successful partnership between our organizations.