[2021-11-24] Retirement Day
Today is my official retirement day. After 33 years of full-time public service, I have finally reached this significant milestone.
I recall attending the retirement party of a fellow director when I was a new executive. I asked him when he had started working in the government. "1966," he replied. "Oh my," I responded. "I was born in 1966."
I always loved the fact that many generations were present in the workplace. As a young employee, I marveled at the wisdom and poise of my older co-workers. And as an older employee, I marveled at the quickness and ingenuity of my younger co-workers. And now, as I retire, I leave behind some colleagues who were not even born at the time I started my full-time public service career in 1988.
I don't believe that I've ever sat down to share with my children the path I took in my career. So, on this final day of my employment in the federal public service, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane for posterity, with a focus on the early years of my career.
My public service employment began in 1985 with my first of three terms as a student at Veterans Affairs Canada while studying journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa. I worked in the communications team located in the East Memorial Building at 284 Wellington Street, supporting its efforts to commemorate significant events in Canada's military history. It was a fitting introduction to the public service—a place I felt I would want to make a career.
When I graduated from university in the spring of 1988, I applied to positions in the federal public service, hoping to land a job in a communications team in a department or agency. At the same time, however, I didn’t want to put all my eggs in just one basket. So I also applied to jobs in the private sector. And I sent my CV to every employment agency in Ottawa that would accept it. In those days, many public and private sector employers used employment agencies to quickly get people in the door (casual contracts in the government were not yet a thing). Only about half the employment agencies were willing to take my CV because they didn't get many requests for people with my background.
In the meantime, I succeeded in finding a job at a small private sector firm in the southeast part of the city. Contrary to my experience as a student, I did not enjoy the atmosphere at the company. While my boss initially appreciated my ability to find errors in the texts she asked me to edit, our relationship deteriorated when the errors I found were in documents she had previously reviewed. At least one of the engineers I worked with was sexist and rude. And there was a general air of distrust in the place; for example, one day, the vice president sat in the lobby of the building taking attendance as employees arrived for work in the morning.
You can imagine how thrilled I was when I received a call from one of the employment agencies to which I had sent my CV indicating that they had a six-week placement for me in a federal department. The agency was clear that I should not expect more than six weeks, but I knew I couldn't stay a moment longer at the private sector company. So I took a leap of faith and accepted the offer.
The job was with Energy, Mines and Resources Canada. When I arrived for my first day, I noticed a sign over the door of the building at 562 Booth Street for the department’s Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET). This was an interesting coincidence, as it was the same part of the department my sister worked for. I was hired to edit scientific papers. The scientists I worked with welcomed my review of their manuscripts, appreciating my keen eye for inconsistencies and errors.
My six-week placement was extended for another eight, though the agency once again told me not to expect more. I can recall having a conversation with an older colleague and telling her that I would be with the organization for only a short time. "Oh, lassie," she replied, in her lovely Scottish accent, "you'll never leave." Her prediction would hold true for the next 28 years. I remained at Energy, Mines and Resources (which became Natural Resources Canada when EMR and Forestry Canada merged in 1994) until 2016.
On November 21, 1988, I became a term employee, moving across the road to 555 Booth Street. I transitioned from scientific editing to technology marketing and, later, to planning. In 1995, I moved to 580 Booth Street, where I would remain for more than 20 years. During those two decades, I served as a director or director general in five sectors of the department. Natural Resources Canada would prove to be a great place to grow up.
My final position with the department—director general of communications services—positioned me well to become the assistant deputy minister of communications for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. In 2016, after 28 years on Booth Street, I moved to the Brooke Claxton Building at 70 Columbine Driveway on Tunney’s Pasture to take up my new role. I spent four exciting, demanding and enriching years serving the two health organizations, culminating in seven gruelling months leading health communications during the COVID pandemic.
And then—as Jenesis readers know—a new challenge emerged: ovarian cancer. It felt like a tree had fallen across my path and that I needed to chart a new direction. I stepped back from work, focused on my treatment, started this blog, and rediscovered life outside the office.
As I look back at my employment history, I'm struck by how well I did despite spending most of my career in one department. I never lacked opportunities for development or advancement; they came to me or I pursued them. I've always said that if you have a good reputation you can do well in a single organization, amassing corporate knowledge and building relationships that will serve you and the organization well.
Someone remarked to me today that "everyone around you is teaching you something, directly or indirectly, for better or for worse." I'm grateful for all the people who taught me over the last three and a half decades, sharing lessons that served me in the workplace and continue to serve me in life.
