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These are the official notes that the Environment Canada Regional Director General in Pacific and Yukon Region used at the kick off ceremonies for National Public Service Week at the building shared with Fisheries and Oceans Canada:Good morning everyone and welcome to this year’s official opening of National Public Service Week. It’s a pleasure to be here with you. This year’s theme is very apt for Environment Canada. It is an exciting time to be here as the shape of a renewed department emerges. This year, we celebrate several milestones across Canada, as Paul Sprout mentioned, including the 140th anniversary of the Public Service of Canada. You can be proud of belonging to the Public Service of Canada, a group of individuals dedicated and committed to excellence. In keeping with this year's theme of recognizing our history while building our tomorrow, I'd like to recognize the memory of an exemplary British Columbian, Roderick Haig-Brown, author, pioneering conservationist, magistrate and former Chancellor of the University of Victoria. He believed implicitly in the role of the public service and although it wasn’t his main occupation, he did spend time working for the Human Resources section of the Canadian Forces and briefly with the RCMP. I mention him because he shared a relationship with both Environment Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada as an international advisor, and writer. He wrote some 25 books and is mostly remembered as the father of fly-fishing in North America. But he was also an ardent essayist, dedicated to conservation themes. In 1966, he was concerned about how to approach conservation, a theme that resonates with the work of Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. He wrote “...The Fraser watershed is the most impressive physical feature of British Columbia. It drains the richest half of the province. Its waters are put to an infinity of uses. It has built a magnificent delta on which nearly half the population of the province chooses to live...” He was rightly worried about the threats of pollution and urbanization and how to conserve the resources of the province. In another essay, he wrote "Conservation must stake its claims, aggressively and authoritatively; ecologies are the key to the preservation of all forms of wildlife, including fish and plants. Ecologies must be recognized, assessed, understood and defined; only then can they be adequately protected." So this year, a year that has been declared the Haig-Brown Centenary, I am pleased to be able to say that the work he saw as essential aligns so well with the work we are doing. I want to encourage you to make some time to participate in the many learning opportunities and fun activities that are happening this week. Let’s celebrate our achievements and show our pride in being Public Service employees. The week belongs to us! Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Together, we are continuing to make a difference in the lives of Canadians. Ensemble, nous continuons de faire une différence dans la vie des Canadiens. Merci pour votre appui et votre collaboration. Thank you!
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Centenary 
