Gleaned from a Departmental publication and re-arranged

by Laval Desbiens -  2 May 2008

On the day of my retirement I will have completed 35 years of service in the federal government. I started in 1972 during the growing days of the Department of Communications in Acton, Ontario and then just before Christmas of 1972 moved to the Toronto District Office. I transferred into the Toronto Regional Office within a week or two of arriving back from my honeymoon (1977). I then moved back into the Toronto District Office as a manager in 1987. The last move was to Kelowna in the fall of 1990.

While working as the Manager of Spectrum Development in the Toronto District office in the Spring of 1990, I applied for the Hamilton District Director's job. I knew the office, the staff, and I was born and had lived within the Hamilton District. One of my staff let me know that there were two positions going to be run on the same competition and the second one was Kelowna. Jane and I were going to move somewhere anyway and I thought that if the interview was being done at the same time there might be only one or two additional questions on the board. I applied for both positions. I ended up having to choose between Kelowna and Hamilton. Jane and I debated long and hard about where we would go and concluded that Kelowna was the only appropriate destination (my family lived in the San Francisco Bay area). When we stepped off the plane for the first time I knew I was in the right place. It took Jane a bit longer to be convinced but she too knows that this is home.

There are a lot of people who have had the greatest impact on me and my career and to name them all would result in a very lengthy list. My wife - without her long and constant support we would not be here. Bruce Drake - mainly because he did get me here (there are several other reasons but space is limited). Penny - because she gave me considerable freedom and guidance to do some very interesting projects. Gord Herrmann - he was my Spectrum Management conscience and the rock on which the Kelowna office operated. Mike Power - while I worked for him in the Ontario regional office he got me to think on a "big picture" basis and when he was the director of the Toronto District he taught me people management. Vic Decloux - the director of the Toronto District Office when I arrived in Toronto in 1972; on the day I met him I decided that the "director" was the job I wanted. And my friend, Adam Bielecki, who has taught me about community capacity building and building partnerships. As I said there are many other people. A clerk by the name of Betty Kennedy whom I worked with in the Toronto District SOC gave me a thorough education in proper government processes and procedures and how to deal with clients among other things. The loyal and trusting members of the OFCWA opened my eyes to new visions. Finally, and in no particular order, Serge Bertuzzo, Wayne Choi, Morris Bodnar, John Nosotti, Gary Paugh, Doug Kinsey, Dennis Lanthier, Mitch St. Jacques and a host of HQ, regional and district people, friends and acquaintances in Other Government Departments, my bosses while at SpectroCan, the office staff here both present and retired all have influenced me.