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Summer 2004

British ColumbiaMinistry of TransportationStaff Newsletter

Online: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/roadrunners/index-roadrunners.htm

Wylie Coyote adorns the bumper of a semi-truck emerging from a tunnel in this sandcastle recreation of aWarner Bros. “Roadrunner” cartoon. For details, see page 3.

The Coneheads team hasbeen looked after for 11 yearsby Ministry of Transportationstaff. Grant Smith and JeffMoore have been involvedsince the beginning and are stillgoing strong. Jeff still runs init!! It is a great family event.Former MoT employee BrentDozzi’s family has beencoming out from the timebefore he had any children,and now there are three boysthat count on their first“camping trip” of the year at

“Coneheads” mark 15 years takingpart in 24-hour Relay for the Kids

Swanguard Stadium. TheConeheads team is made upof current and formerministry employees, as well asfriends. The team wasoriginally started withMainroad Contracting 15 yearsago. Three years into it, theorganizer retired, and when itlooked like it was going to goaway the next year, the ministryfolks took over. TheConeheads have raised wellover $50,000 for this charityin their 15 years participating.

FieldServicesFarewells

On May 7, a good timewas had by all at a retirementparty at the Princess MaryRestaurant in Victoria to sayfarewell to “our guys.” SveinHaugen, Acting ExecutiveDirector, Program Develop-ment and Monitoring, wasMC for the farewell gala.

Mike Newton, Manager,Field Services, spoke onbehalf of the retirees’ wivesand presented them withflowers and a gift. When theparty was being planned, Mikeinsisted that the wives berecognized and receiveflowers. The ladies were very

Continued on page 2

Road Runner Summer 2004

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impressed with their flowers. One of thewives made the comment that they werehappy to be recognized for a change.

Dan Doyle, Deputy Minister,presented the guys with the ministryplaques, scrolls, ministry gifts and theminister’s letter wishing them the best inthe future.

Best wishes and stories were sharedby various ministry staff on behalf ofthe honourees. Rodney Chapman,Director, Construction and Maintenance,spoke on behalf of Tom Waring andwished them all the best in the future.Svein Haugen spoke on behalf of DennisDodsworth. Barry Bergstrom, Manager,Field Services, spoke on behalf of Jim

Duetsch. Dennis Dodsworth spoke onbehalf of Steve Johnston. They all hadgood stories to tell.

Russ Zerr, who retired a few years agofrom his position as ConstructionManager, decided that it was time to payDennis Dodsworth back after whatDennis had done to him at his retirementparty.

The funniest faux pas of the eveningwas when Dan Doyle called SteveJohnston up so he could present him withhis plaque, scroll and other mementos.Steve came up to the front, took hisplaque, scroll and gifts and basically ranoff without saying a word. Dan lookedat him like, “Are you not going to make aspeech?” Steve looked at him and

(Continued from page 5)

Field Services farewells (cont’d)Our Farewells

Dennis Dodsworth, ProvincialManager, Field Services - 30 years

Jim Deutsch, Project Supervisor,Field Services - 29 years

Steve Johnston, ProjectSupervisor, Field Services andHonouree - 28 years

Tom Waring, Engineering Assistant,Field Services - VDP to spend moretime with his children

shrugged his shoulders and took off.(The look on their faces was priceless!)What actually happened was just beforeSteve was called up, he was told to makehis speech after Dan called him up, andNOT after Dennis Dodsworth spoke onhis behalf. Steve took it as, “Do not makea speech after Dan; make a speech afterDennis.”

We were trying to keep the speechesdown because everyone wanted to party,and party they did.

We would like to thank some of thepeople who made sure that this party wasone of the best. Thanks go to KevinRichter, Mike Newton, Barry Bergstrom,Don Shaw, Lois Parks, Maree Johnstonand Judy Gunderson.

Jim Deutsch, Dennis Dodsworth, Steve Johnston Dan Doyle wishes Tom Waring well in retirement

Submitted by Connie Nicoletti,Senior Rehab, Construction & PavingProject Manager

Last fall, John Dyble, the HighwaysDepartment Assistant Deputy Minister,initiated the Early Tendering Strategy tomaximize our construction season and

challenged the ministry to early tender 33per cent of the 2004-05 capital programs.This strategy was implemented on ashort-term basis with a short timeframerequiring a very quick turnaround toachieve the goal.

Its success was due to the tremendous

effort and dedication of many of you.The ministry not only met its goal of 33per cent but in fact exceeded it. As aresult, the ministry’s construction seasonis well underway.

Recognition of outstanding effort

Kudos for an outstanding effort

Continued on page 3


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Sun, sand and waterimprove teamworkOn June 29, under sunny skies on Saanich Beach, staff

from the Properties and Business Management Branchcompeted in this year’s NEED Crisis and InformationLine annual community awareness SandFest event, the sandsculpture competition. The team included Jim Prewett,Trish Sterloff, Nick May, Jeffrey Li, Yongmei Chen, ScottGillespie, Eva Boenisch, Lingxia Li, Kenna Bilek and EdWelwood.

Lots of hard work over five hours — with our ownJim Prewett, a Master Sand Sculptor, leading the team —resulted in the re-creation of a familiar Warner Bros.Roadrunner cartoon scene of a six-foot tunnel withRoadrunner driving a semi-truck through it and WylieCoyote pasted on the bumper. It was made using onlywater and sand — no concrete or glue permitted! ThriftyFoods, Canada Post and Saanich Police also participated.The judges determined Canada Post as the winner, butrumour has it that MoT was a very close second. Way togo, Team Roadrunner!

Team Roadrunner did the ministry proudin an early summer sandcastle competition

goes to all of you who made this happen. Thank you BillRose, Bill Smith, Bob Hall, Bob Penner, Bob Webb, BrentAndrews, Chad Tenney, Cindi Trowbridge, Danny Voykin, DaveMintak, Dave Schleppe, Dawn Beck, Don Wharf, ErnstBoeder, Gar Lee, George Lomas, Gerry Allen, Gerry Fleming,Greg Czernick, Greg Matisz, Greg Ross, Harold Boyden, HelenEvans, Jay Dunbar, Jim Guthrie, Julie Martin, Keith Callendar,Ken Aura, Len Romanow, Lina Halwani, Loris Tommasel,Maurice Lefrancois, Mike Newton, Mike Walsh, Nash Jamal,Pat Cruickshank, Pat Taylor, Patrick Livolsi, Reg Lawrence, RickBlixrud, Rusty Hewitt, Sharon Goddard, Steve Husband, TimDyer, Tim Meszaros, Todd Hubner, Tony Bennett, Val Fabick,Vince Trozzo, Wayne Dawson, Wilfred Fry, Ritchie Pastor, MikeMcLaren . . . and all of you.

A special thank you goes to the South Coast Region’sContract Administration Support Services for their outstandingperformance.

This is an accomplishment to be proud of. We welcomeyour active participation in shaping a future early tenderingprocess that is more efficient and effective such that we canmaximize our construction seasons on every project, every time.

Congratulations, everyone!

(Continued from page 2)

Tendering strategysuccess draws kudos

Submitted by Jeffrey Li,MBA Intern, Propertiesand Business ManagementBranch

“Which roads should weupgrade this year?” “Should Iinspect the site today or juststay in the office to finish the

Continued on page 4

Risk management process launchedreport due tomorrow?” Intoday’s world, we always feelthat there just isn’t enough timeand resources to do everythingwe want to.

We are not alone!Everyone does. We areconcerned about every

decision made because mostof these decisions involve risks:Cost overruns, road safety,customer complaints andmore. The reality is youprobably will never be able toget rid of these risks. The onlyfeasible approach is to balancethese risks appropriately at acomfortable level.

In late 2003, the Ministryof Transportation recognizedthe growing need to have astructured and consistentframework for riskmanagement and, under thegovernment wide riskmanagement initiative, MoTlaunched a series of EnterpriseRisk Management (ERM) pilot

projects. One-day ERMtraining workshops for staffhad already been heldthroughout the province overthe past winter. Sponsored byJohn Dyble, Assistant DeputyMinister, OperationsDepartment, an ERM teamwas formed that includes JohnDowler, Don Shaw, NashJamal, Bob Corder, VickiWillow, Russ Fuller andAndrew Green. Consultingfirm Deloitte & Touche werealso engaged to assist with thisinitiative.

From April to June thisyear, four pilot ERMWorkshops (Field Services,


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Bike to WorkWeek

Submitted by Alan Callander,Provincial Cycling Coordinator

June 7 to 13, 2004 was Bike to WorkWeek in Victoria. Bike to Work Week isa campaign that focuses on encouragingpeople to commute to work by bicycle.

The primary activity of Bike to WorkWeek is the Commuter Challenge, inwhich employee-teams from variouswork sites are challenged to outdo eachother’s participation in commuter cycling.

Teams from the ministry’sTransportation Planning and PolicyDepartment (Bike Me), Construction andMaintenance Branch (Riding withCahoon), and a team that coveredPartnerships, Engineering, Finance andPublic Affairs Branches (Out-Spok’n)participated in the event.

A total of 42 riders travelled to andfrom headquarters on bikes that week.

One of the highlights for the weekwas a group photo with Minister Falconand members from all the teams on stepsof the Legislative building. Also to helpcelebrate the week, some of the teams

had daily treats, prizes, and potlucklunches. I was very pleased to see everyonewearing a helmet and obeying the rulesof the road on their way back to work atthe ministry.

Fred R. Hughes hasleft the building

After 34 years of service with the Ministry, most of themon the Survey Crew in Saanich, Fred has retired. Fred C. Hugheswill now have e-mail to himself.

Submitted by NormParkes, Regional Manager,Programming, Kamloops

On March 31, 2004, JonBuckle weighed anchor andsailed off into retirement.Throughout his 32-year career,Jon contributed to manysignificant changes in theministry. Most recently, he wasa key participant in theprivatization of maintenance,worked tirelessly on twomajor reorganizations with anemphasis on people manage-ment.

In 2003, Jon received theQueen’s Jubilee Commem-orative gold medal for hiscontributions to BritishColumbia and the DeputyMinister’s Recognition Award

Jon Buckle retires

for Public Service. Jon wasalso known for his honesty,integrity and compassion. Wewish Jon, Irene and their familya long, happy, healthyretirement.


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(Continued from page 5)Engineering Branch, NorthernRegion and Vancouver IslandDistrict) were conductedacross the province by theERM project team andDeloitte & Touche.

“I think they were verysuccessful workshops.” saidVicki Willow, the ProjectManager. “After each full dayworkshop, the participantswalked away with a commonrisk management language andpractical approaches they canapply in their work, themanagement and staff in theregion identified their key risksas well as risk treatmentrecommendations, and theERM team gained valuableexperience to use in thedevelopment of options forbroader ERM implement-ation in the future.”

While risk management isnot new to the ministry (giventhe nature of our business, theministry has been managingrisks for many years), ERMdoes have some specificcharacteristics.

ERM is a structured anddisciplined approach tomanaging risk. It alignsstrategy, processes, people,technology and knowledgewith the purpose of evaluatingand managing the uncertaintiesthe ministry faces as it seeks toachieve its objectives.

Through the ERMprocess, staff identify risks tothe achievement of goals, thepossible frequency of

occurrence of those risks, thelikely impact if the risks wereto occur, and strategies tomitigate those risks.

One feature of ERM iscross-boundary riskmanagement. Traditionally, riskmanagement has been seen asan activity in silos that couldbe focused on different riskareas such as financial,insurance, continuity planning,etc. ERM, in contrast,provides a broad cross-organization framework toaddress risk management.

As Andrew Green, amember of the ERM projectteam mentioned: “The ERMprogram provides ourministry with a greatopportunity to look at all ofthe risks it is exposed to; it willhelp decision-makers to makeinformed decisions by beingaware of various risks, notonly the risks in one area butthe risks across the board.”

As a cost-effective riskmanagement methodology,ERM also emphasizes riskpriority and risk tolerancelevel. Staff are not expectedto eliminate all risks. Instead,ERM provides a process tohelp people prioritize risks andset up reasonable risk tolerancelevels by aligning the risks withthe strategies, goals andobjectives of the ministry.

Vicki explained: “Peoplecan take some risks and focuson the ones beyond the risktolerance level. Decision-makers at each level end up

with a statement of their mostpressing business risks,normally the top five risks,often with some effective risktreatment recommendations,forming useful input whenmaking decisions anddistributing resources.”

The pilot projects havebeen very successful. “Peopleare very supportive,participation is good, and wehave received very positivefeedback” Vicki mentioned,“The intention is that ERMwill not add additional processbut will evolve what we arealready doing. ERM can bewoven into existing day-to-daybusiness processes to helppeople think about risk anddocument their risk-associateddecisions.”

Participants bought intothe ERM approach almostimmediately. “Field Serviceshad the ERM workshop two

Enterprise Risk Managementleads to better decision-making

months ago, now everyone istalking managing risk andeveryone is talking risktolerance level.” Don Shaw,construction manager in FieldServices commented. Basedon the success of the pilotprojects, the working group isnow reviewing how to movethe initiative forward.

“I really enjoy workingwith Vicki and the projectteam. I am impressed by thework done by the consultants.I hope and believe the ministrywill bring this initiative into thefuture with greater success.”Andrew Green commented.

When talking about thefuture of the initiative, Vickitold us: “We are wrapping upthe pilot sessions, talking aboutwhat we have learned and willreport our findings andrecommendations for thefuture to ministry seniormanagement.”

Managing risks is a key priority for this team


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Submitted by Julian Malinsky,District Business Manager

On May 22, Frank Dacho, DirectorProject Management Services for theSouthern Interior Region, was driving onHighway 24 and noticed a truck/semitrailer in an arrestor bed at the bottomof the 10 km Hill, five kilometres westof Little Fort at Cartwright Road.

The incident occurred at 10:30 a.m.and Frank arrived at 2 p.m., just beforethe tow truck appeared. Frank tookpictures and talked to the truck driver.

The trailer was fully loaded (estimated82,000 pounds gross weight) and travelledapproximately three-quarters of thearrestor bed length before coming to a

Truck driver, partner thankfulfor arrestor bed on Highway 24

complete stop. The driver estimated hewas traveling between 140 and 160 km/h when he entered the arrestor bed.

The only apparent damage was abroken off air hose caused by the loosegravel in the bed. The driver feels thearrestor bed likely saved his and his

partner’s lives, as he did not think it wouldhave been possible to negotiate the S-curves beyond the arrestor bed. Thedriver did not give any reason the earlierrunaway lanes above the arrestor bedwere not used.

Frank, thank you for sharing the story.

Maybe next year...Submitted by Ryan Oakley, EIT

Victoria Highway Planning Branch giving their support fortheir “favourite” team, the Calgary Flames.

Back row, from left: Jim Hester, Brenda Larkin, DavidFisher, Mark Lynch, John Coombs, Adrian Vander-Velden.Front row, from left: Jerry Gerrard, Jon Conquist, ChuckHutchinson

Larry Macko was hired asa sign designer for the SignShop in the fall of 2000.

He has been artisticthroughout his life and pursuedhis talents in the GraphicDesign and Illustrationprogram at Capilano Collegein North Vancouver.

Larry likes to unwind fromlife with his art from time totime, as well as producingcontract jobs.

At right is an example of afairly recent private comm-ission.

Sign shopdesigner

has talentto spare

Larry Macko

“Voodoo Child”


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Submitted by Gloria Valle, Manager,Corporate Writing Services

Louise Kennedy, Senior BudgetOfficer, is off to The Big Easy, NewOrleans, on July 18 for a week of judgingat the US Open Synchro SwimChampionships. In August, she is off toAthens, Greece and the Olympic Games,not judging but as “Head of Delegation”for Synchro Canada. Synchro takes placeduring the second week of the Olympics,August 23-27. GO CANADA!

Louise also attended the COC(Canadian Olympic Committee)Convention last April as well asparticipated in one of the Sport CanadaRound Table discussions on funding forAmateur Sport the same month.

During Kennedy’s time as acompetitor, there was no national teamprogram. But that didn’t stop her fromexcelling in the sport from a young age.

“The pool was three blocks away,” shesaid. “My folks said if you live that closeto a pool, you’re going to learn to swim.”

And Kennedy learned well. Over a 12-year competitive career ending in 1975,she reached national competitions andbecame a B.C. champion. Since then, shehas advanced steadily through the ranksof judges and officials. She has judgedcountless regional and provincialcompetitions, and since 1991, she hasjudged internationally, venturing to Japan,Spain, Sweden and other far-flung pointsaround the globe.

A past member of Synchro Canada’s

Making a splash around the world!

officials management team and theassociation’s ethics committee, she waselected president of the 10,000-memberorganization in 2002.

“It’s a lot of work. You try to make adifference, try to help the sport develop.If we can make a difference for theathletes, then I’ve done my job,” Kennedysaid. One of the key challenges forsynchronized swimming, as for allamateur sport, is funding. For years, therehas been ongoing debate over the roleof federal sport funding and the way itshould be directed.

“I would like to see sport bodies

become less reliant on the federalgovernment,” she said. “With SynchroCanada, we’re trying to find benefactorsor sponsors. If people realized the valueof sport, that it makes not just betterswimmers or better runners, but betterpeople, maybe it would be easier to gainthat support.”

Business and judging aside, Kennedywill have a rich experience at the US Openand of course, the Olympics.

Check out these Olympic Web sites:

www.athens2004.com/athens2004www.olympic.ca/splash.html

Louise Kennedy, president of Synchro Canada, synchronized swimming’s governing body in Canada

Submitted by Tammy Longbottom,Manager, HR Planning andDevelopment

The initial recruitment for theManagement Development Program wascompleted in April. An orientation sessionwas held in Vancouver on May 13, where

candidates learned about the program andcareer and competency development.Dan Doyle and Dave Byng were guestspeakers at the session.

Overall it was a great kick-off to theprogram. Participants have created theirtraining and development plans and most

participants have commenced their firstassignments. As developmentalopportunities become available, we willcontinue to match participants withsuitable opportunities.

More info: http://gww.th.gov.bc.ca/gwwmdp/Content/home/overview.asp

Management Development Program update


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Submitted by Neville HopeSince ‘hanging up my slide rule’ as

Regional Director in mid-June 2002, Ihave been trying to follow the advice ofone of my wife Eleanor’s formerworkmates, who told her at her retirementparty to “only do those things which areworthwhile to you.” For me this includesa whole range of things, from a weeklygolf game and occasional tennis matchwith John Bodnarchuk, to volunteeringat the Port Theatre in Nanaimo, workingon the Crisis Line in Courtenay andrecently becoming a member of theboard of a Family Services organizationhere in the Comox Valley.

When I was considering retirement, Ihad some reservations about it, as unlikemany folk, I really didn’t have manypursuits that I felt really passionate about.I had many interests but few that I yearnedto get away from work to pursue avidly,other than perhaps our love of travel, butthere are certain financial restrictionsaround that!. However, for those of youin a similar situation, I can say it provedfairly effortless to make the transition, andonce Eleanor finished work, we quicklyfound our new niches.

In the fall of 2002, we took our newlyacquired truck and camper and travelledfor nine weeks across Canada and theUSA. This was a real eye-opener to seejust how big and beautiful our country is- and how much federal money seems tobe available from the Ontario bordereastwards!

The biggest surprise for us wassouthern Utah and its magnificent nationalparks. We had not researched this area atall and were just looking for a route backto B.C. This proved to be a veryenjoyable leg of our journey home.

Last fall, our travel bug took us on a15-day trip to China, a country almost aslarge as Canada (96%), with a populationof 1.3 billion. As well as Beijing (summerOlympics 2008) and Shanghai, we visitedChongqing, with a population of 32

What ever happened to Neville Hope?

million (yes, that’s the same as all ofCanada). The city of Beijing, like all thecities we saw in China, is booming withconstruction. It is claimed that of all theconstruction cranes in the world, 80% ofthem are busy working in China. We also

Beijing, China

At home after a patio renovation in 2003

Shinnog Brook, a Yangtze tributary

saw a lot of construction underway withwater buffalo and wicker baskets carriedon men’s backs for carrying constructionmaterials. It’s a country of tremendouscontrasts.

Walking on the Great Wall is indeedan amazing experience. It is hard tocomprehend that it is about 4,000 mileslong and was originally built by a seriesof vying warlords about 3,000years ago.

We also visited the Terra CottaWarriors near Xian, the first capital ofChina. There are about 8,000 life-sizesoldiers, built to protect the first emperorin his afterlife. We also spent three dayson the Yangtze River and toured thenearly completed Three Gorges dam site.This is an immense undertaking, builtprimarily for flood control, but asecondary benefit is the electric power itgenerates, producing nine times the outputof the Hoover dam in Colorado. Thedam itself is 2.3 km long, and some 1.3million people have been or will berelocated by the project. China is rapidlymoving to a free-market economy, andyou can buy just about anything there(most of the things we buy here are nowmade there!). There are some amazingbuys to be had, with all the fun ofbartering you find in Mexico, but thepeople are much more gracious about it.We found the people to be very friendlyand helpful, even despite the languagebarrier.

When not travelling and not attendingother folks’ retirement parties, we havespent a lot of time working on our half-acre pad in Fanny Bay, making somesignificant additions both inside and outand converting what was just second-growth ‘bush’ when we moved in, to ourpiece of paradise. We’d love to see anyof our old friends from the ministry ifyou’re travelling on the Island, andEleanor is a fabulous cook (eating isanother of those worthwhile things I liketo do!). By the way, I am delighted withthe new format of the Road Runner.Keep up the great work.


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Golf shirts for all...On June 28, the Okanagan-Shuswap District staff were presented with golf shirts to recognize the staff (retroactively) for being the highest rankeddistrict in the 2002 Customer Satisfaction Survey. Note that the staff member to the right of the photo is holding up an extra golf shirt. This is inrecognition of our colleague, Ron Stratton, Area Manager (Salmon Arm) who was unable to be there with us. Ron is currently battling a very seriousillness and the staff just wanted Ron to know that, by way of this photo, he is there with us and our thoughts and best wishes are with him and his family.

Submitted by Grant Lachmuth, DMT, Okanagan-Shuswap

On top of the worldAbove is Scott Aitken, Snow Avalanche Technician, Coast ChilcotinProgram, de-riming a radio repeater on Mt. Cassiope. Highway 99 Northand the Pemberton valley are in the background. At right is Scott Aitken,installing a cornice splitter to protect a Gaz.ex exploder above Hwy 99Nat Duffey Lake.

Submitted by Doug Tuck, Assistant Avalanche Technician


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Submitted by Patrick C. LivolsiLast September, my wife and I packed

up our bicycles and flew over to Europefor a wonderful five week holiday of cycletouring and backpacking in SouthernFrance and Corsica. We wanted to sharesome of our pictures and adventures withyou, particularly the ones that are more“transportation” related.

We arrived in Nice only to discoverthat our bicycles had decided not to joinus in France. Fortunately, we hadn’tplanned to use them immediately and theywere successfully delivered three days laterin good condition. While enjoying the sitesof Nice, we discovered that pedestriansdo not enjoy the same respect fromdrivers as in North America - you literallytake your life in your own hands, evenwhen you supposedly have the right ofway such as in a crosswalk. This of coursedid not bode well for our upcoming cycletouring. If they treat their pedestrians thisway - what do theydo to the cyclists!

Well were wesurprised. If wethought pedestrianswere rated slightlyhigher than a speedbump, cyclists wererevered to almostm y t h i c a lproportions. Wecould do no wrong.Motorists patientlywaited behind you for an opportunity topass - no honking, no fingers, and norunning us off the road. Cycling is partof the French culture - and I’m sure thathaving the Tour de France as a nationaltreasure doesn’t hurt either. If only theycould be so respectful back home....

We traveled the coastal route fromNice to Marseilles and then half thecoastline of the island of Corsica. Corsicais one of those islands that has always hadfairly peaceful and laid-back inhabitantsthat kept getting invaded by one country

after another, century after century(sounds a lot like how the Gulf Islandpeople must feel!). An interesting featureof Corsica is that the oldest villages areup on the mountain tops, whereas thenewer ones (though still a couple ofhundred years old) are along the coast.The reason is that the invaders wouldattack by boat and raid and destroy thecoastal cities but they basically avoidedgoing into the interior to continue theirpillaging.

My guess is that they were too lazy toclimb to the top of the mountains simplyto be greeted with hot oil and rocks beingthrown at them! Needless to say,Corsicans are rather touchy about the lastinvasion and occasionally they threaten toregain their independence by blowingsomething up. Thankfully they treated usvery well during our stay.

The coastal roadway network insouthern France is in pretty good shape -

most of the highspeed roadwayshave decentshoulders and forthe others there areusually alternatemarked routes withlower trafficvolumes and nicerscenery.

Corsica on theother hand, is stillwell behind in their

transportation network. Usually therewere no shoulders, maybe a centre lineand occasionally the width for only onecar at a time.

There was also no concrete roadsidebarrier to be seen. Instead you getunprotected drop-offs of 100 meters orso, or an occasional non-reinforced rockwall barrier with no flare protection orhazard markers. In Canada we wouldprobably call this Context Sensitive Design.Many of the motorists traveling theroadways were tourists who were used

to the excellent roadways on themainland, but on these roadways theywere much more sober in their drivingstyle! For cyclists limited to speeds of 30km/h, it was a dream.

On Corsica we also did a seven-daybackpack trip on the GR20 - one of thetop trails in Western Europe climbing overthe major mountain chain on the island.

On this part of the trip weencountered the famed Genoan “paved”roadway. The ancient road is made ofindividual rocks manually placed to forma relatively “flat” pathway that could beused by donkeys with carts.

The highlight of the backpack trip wasthe Cirque de Solitude. Though it maysound like a peaceful and relaxing littlelocation, it is over 2,200 meters in altitudeand requires the use of ladders and chainsto prevent you from going over the drop-offs.

Overall we had an excellent trip withonly one day of rain. We’re lookingforward to returning and finishing theisland and maybe hopping over toSardinia and checking out the Italianculture next time!

Cycling the Corsican Way

Cows on the road, a common traffic hazard

A successful hike on the Cirque de Solitude


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Bebington leaves MoTSubmitted by Lorna Leslie,Special Events and PermitsCoordinator

The Lower MainlandDistrict celebrated theretirement of Paul Bebingtonafter more than 32 years withthe Ministry of Transportationon April 16 at the Giggle Damcomedy dinner club in PortCoquitlam.

Many friends, family andco-workers came to see Paulbare his chest, don a skirt,blonde wig and blue featherboa and strut his stuff on stage.

This was a far cry from thePaul that we saw daily in theoffice, buried under a pile ofpaper, plans and concentratingon the details of the RIMSsystem. Major highways aswell as obscure little roads in

the Lower Mainland Districtwere fixed not only on paperbut in Paul’s brain.

Paul is also very involvedin the Seaforth Cadet Corps,taking youth camping mostweekends and at trainingsessions three to four times perweek. We wish Paul a longand happy retirement.

Submitted by Stan Kravetz, PHCCOperator

Summer 2004 and now into the thirdyear since retirement and voluntarydepartures brought about changes to aworkgroup that had been status quo formany years. May 1 marked 16 years forme as part of the Provincial HighwayConditions Centre.

The voluntary departures includedKim Seale (March 2003), who’s flying thefriendly skies doing traffic reports forVancouver radio station JACK-FM alongwith periodic weekend on-locationbroadcasts. Ed Allain (February 2003) isa communications operator with theCanadian Coast Guard and is currentlyworking out of Prince Rupert, afterreceiving his training in Nova Scotia. Ifully expect Ed to return to Vancouver atsome point in the future with the CoastGuard.

As for retirees:Marilyn Kinley (February 2001)

resides in Merritt but visits the LowerMainland to see her daughters andgrandchildren.

Keith Winsor (March 2002) residesin Aldergrove and very much enjoysretirement and grandfather duties.

Gar Moorman (March 2002) residesin Hope and enjoys travelling with his wifeand golfing.

Claudette Grosset (2002) resides inPenticton but is looking to have Langleybecome her retirement home soon.

Lou Mitchell was travelling Europewith his wife in May and moved toParksville in July. He has twograndchildren, with a third due inNovember. Golfing and perfectingafternoon couch snoozes have made Loua Happy Camper

Life after the Provincial Highway Conditions Centre

Having spent many hours together, beit in the midst of major winter storms,rainy season or during warm summerdays, efforts are continually underway toreunite for a nibble and sip.

At the White Spot Restaurant in Walnut Grove(Langley), a group of former PHCC staff includes,clockwise from the head of the table on the right:Ed Allain, Calgary Bell Mobility rep; coworkerGina Botelho, former PHCC staff; Stan Kravetz,longest serving PHCC staff member; CatherineWorley, MOT Lower Mainland District office butcurrently on maternity leave; Keith Winsor; KimSeale.

Art Barry new managerof Electrical Services

Art Barry started in theministry in 1979 working withDesign and Survey in Victoriaand Nelson.

After a stint as an AreaManager in Rock Creek, Artmoved on to be RegionalOperations Technician.

Effective April 1, 2004, Artstarted in his new position andwe wish him luck.

Read it online at:www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/roadrunners/

index-roadrunners.htm


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Submitted by Darren Lincoln,Manager, Property Services

The Southern Interior Region’sProperties Group has gone through quitea roster change. Although battle-scarredfrom restructuring and retirement, furtherretirement and one last fling withretirement, our once large group is nowbeginning to settle in to our old barn, theRegional Building, and a new team identityis being formed. While some of the oldhousehold names like Jones, Doyle andWalker have gone on to greener pastures,new staff with more difficult spelling andpronunciation has evolved such asKlingbeil, Luison and Holota. As a resultof all the roster changes, we thought itwould be the opportune time to geteveryone familiarized with names, facesand positions. Our new team shapes upsomething like this:

Player Profiles:Debbie Luison - After securing a first

round draft choice in the sign shopclosure, Properties successfully signedDebbie as a Property Management/LandSurvey Coordinator. Deb brings a highlevel of energy to the team and has alreadytaken on many challenges in her new roleand is settling in nicely. Award Candidate- the Calder for Rookie of the Year!

Bob Pratt, just off his PropertiesWorld Cup Tour with stops in Nanaimo,Terrace and Prince George, has found ahome for his family in Kamloops. Bobbrings a wealth of experience andknowledge to our team and continues tosolidify the Property AcquisitionCoordinator position. Bob is our Rockon the blue line and continues to role outvolumes of work. Award Candidate - theNorris for Best Defense.

Mark Collins, after more than 11seasons on the Island was picked-up lastyear on waivers after the Islanddisbanding. Since joining the SouthernInterior Properties, Mark has obtainedthree different positions but has nowsettled into his role as a PropertyAcquisition Coordinator. Sparky

Southern Interior’s Properties 2004/05 Roster

Darren Lincoln, Manager Property Services; Ramona Holota, First Nation Coordinator; Bob Pratt,Property Acquisition Coordinator; Penny Radies, Regional Property Administrator; Mark Collins,Property Acquisition Coordinator; Debbie Luison, Property Management/Land Survey Coordinator;Karl Klingbeil, Senior First Nation Coordinator

continues to impress. His never say die,persistent attitude drives him to succeed.He should set some career numbers forproperty settlements this year. AwardCandidate - The Bill Masterson forPerseverance and Dedication!

Karl Klingbeil has tested the freeagent market over the last 20 years withGeotech, Planning and the Thompson-Nicola District before arriving inProperties. Karl’s new role as the SeniorFirst Nation Coordinator will be full ofnew and interesting challenges. Hisexpertise in the various areas of theMinistry has already paid dividends in hisnew position. Award Candidate - TheVezina (goalie - he may take the most shotsof anyone in Properties)!

Ramona Holota, our newest teammember and First Nation Coordinator,joins us with two previous stints in twoforeign leagues, “Forestry andEnvironment”. Ramona is glad to be backin the government and we are very happyto have her in the line-up and part of ourteam. Ramona brings more than 11 years

of Government service dealing with FirstNations in the Southern Interior and hasstepped up to the challenges ahead. Shebrings a fresh and positive attitude to ourgroup and the Regional building. AwardCandidate - The King Clancy forLeadership and Inspiration!

Penny Radies is our most seasonedveteran. After holding out for a short stintin Contracts, Penny has re-signed withProperties as our Regional Property Clerkand is having a banner, MVP caliber year.Where would we be without Penny? Atthe bottom of the standings for sure.Trying to survive without Penny is like ahockey player without a cup - SCARY!!Award Candidate - The Hart for MVPto the team!

For myself, Darren Lincoln, nowbehind the bench as the new Manager ofProperty Services, I am excited about thechallenges ahead of our team. The entirestaff has stepped up during this time oftransition and growth to support thebusiness unit and each other. So, with thatin mind: GAME ON!!


13

Projectmanagers

excelSubmitted by Gerry Fleming, ProjectManager

During the summer of 2003, JayDunbar, Regional Manager, ProjectDelivery for South Coast Region, askedhis relatively new group of projectmanagers and senior technicians if theywould be interested in participating in anew training program that was to beoffered by the University of Victoriaduring the winter, called the MastersCertificate in Project Management.

Seven members of his staff acceptedthe offer, and were also joined by DarylFinlayson, Design Consultant LiaisonEngineer.

The program was expensive, and theparticipants’ commitment would be theirtime for homework, and to attend onscheduled week-end training days, about50 per cent of the curriculum.

The program consisted of nine in-classsessions, most of them two days inlength, with one one-day session and onethree-day session, and was deliveredconcurrently in Vancouver and in Victoria.

The first session was in November2003 and the final one near the end ofMarch 2004.

We were divided into teams to workon a project that eventually led to theproduction of three paper airplanes, andgenerally the assigned homework aftereach session was tied into this project tosome extent.

This format helped to stimulatecompetition between the teams and alsohelped to put the lessons into context fora ‘real’ project. Because I’m such a humbleguy, I will not mention which team won

the competition for Vancouver; let’s justsay that the others were not on thatparticular team.

The program was both challengingand rewarding. For those who attendedin Vancouver, only the first one dayintroduction session did not occur on aweekend and there was one memorablesession in January where we were in classfor the entire weekend.

Coupled with this, we were workinghard to meet the goals of the early tenderinitiative when we got back to the office.

The course is described by the UVicProgram Director as having one goal inmind: to create great project managers.In my opinion, that is an accuratedescription.

We had a total of seven differentinstructors; each one experienced inproject management generally, each witha specific area of expertise and from adifferent area of industry, able to providea different perspective on problems andsolutions.

My personal favorite was CourtStevens who has a background in theCanadian Military. Court discussed his

involvement in a project to develop andproduce parachutes - errors have veryserious and immediate consequences. Ourclassmates came from a variety ofindustries, City of Vancouver, ITcompanies, School District, Duke Energyand project management consultants, toname a few, which allowed for somegreat discussions about diverse types ofproject experiences.

Now that we have all successfullycompleted the course, we are primed totry out these new tools. Several partici-pants plan to use this program as a firststep towards certification as a ProjectManagement Professional (PMP) with theProject Management Institute, widelyrecognized as the leading certificationbody for project management.

Above, from left to right: Wayne Jentsch, LinaHalwani, Dave Mintak, Val Fabick, GerryFleming, Terry Murphy. Below, Daryl Finlaysonand Gar Lee.


14

Submitted by Trish Sterloff, Manager,Business Services

A great opportunity has beenpresented to students around BritishColumbia! On June 26, 2004, MinisterKevin Falcon announced the Rest AreaEnhancement Project. The goal? Toincrease the level of maintenance andcleanliness in our rest areas and act as“ambassadors” to B.C.’s travellers.

This project will also provide studentswith an opportunity to get to know theMinistry of Transportation while earningsome money for school.

Approximately 150 students fromcities and towns around British Columbiahave been hired and will work in rest areasuntil the new school year begins (just afterLabour Day). Duties include mowing,landscaping, litter pickup, cleaning andhandling information requests, to name afew.

The students have been trained inWHMIS safety training, Super Hosttraining and most were trained in Level 1First Aid. In fact, a group of our“rangers” put their training to good useshortly after arriving on the job.

Jim Morrison from WildstoneEngineering writes: “On Thursday, July1, our Chase East team consisting of JoshHeinrich & Jesse Fraser were the first onthe scene of a vehicle accident just eastof the Chase Creek Rest Area.

Two vehicles collided and oneindividual was pinned in their vehicle. Ourcrew attended the scene first, armed withtheir first aid kit and began preliminaryfirst aid as they were taught in their firstaid course the day before.

Fortunately, there were no seriousinjuries with exception to shock. Our crewstayed on-site with the injured parties untilthe first response arrived.”

Overall, the project has been gettingvery positive feedback, with some visitorscommenting that we are helping to put

Rest area ambassadors on the job

the “Beautiful” back in “Beautiful BritishColumbia”.

The districts are extremely impressedwith the caliber of students that they wereable to hire, and students have been not

Dave Duncan, DMT, Fort St. John and Kristi Koop at Taylor Hill Rest Area

only doing their jobs, but coming up withways to deliver a higher quality of service.

When you are out driving around theprovince, make sure to stop in and say hito these hardworking students!

The Cariboo team


15

Submitted by JackBennetto, DMT, RockyMountain District (a.k.a.Lead Theologist)

The Rocky MountainDistrict team has beenexploring new models forproject delivery andmanagement. With thisinitiative we have implementedsome new approaches toenhance the existing projectmanagement tools ministryproject teams already employ.To test our new projectmanagement theories, wedecided to implement someof these new tools on a trialbasis on one of our projectsin the District to see if wecould achieve the desiredresults.

We are now pleased toannounce that we haveexceeded our expectations,with the project being aheadof schedule at costs belowbudget targets. Due to theseachievements we offer ourministry’s other business unitsour formula for success.

Early in the planning phaseswe invited the new RegionalDirector, Southern InteriorRegion, Tracy Cooper, to ourproject office, an old churchlocated on Ha Ha Creek Road(no kidding) to review ourproject direction. We used thisvenue to pray that the Directorprovide an increase in budget,one large enough to mitigatethe challenges of repetitivevalue engineering initiatives.This gave us the opportunityto complete the project aheadof schedule.

In the next phase wechanged the make-up of our

Trying a new management modelproject management team toinclude a new position, aposition we now title the‘project theologist’ because ofhis unorthodox but verysuccessful style of projectmanagement.

Because of the hugesuccess in the delivery of thisproject, the Rocky MountainDistrict will be offering projectmanagement courses to otherministry business units.

To register, simply:

* Ensure your business unit hassufficient budget to donatesignificant funds to the RockyMountain District social fund,

* Submit your resume, indica-ting your skills and experiencein delivering projects,

* Pray our theologist will en-dorse your application toattend our courses,

* If accepted, bring a ward-robe of your newconstruction site clothing!

* Our theologist will commenton the quality and style of yourclothing at the first social thatyour fees will be funding.

Enroll in our courses andyou too will be successful indelivering projects in yourfuture!

We look forward to yourparticipation and success at ournew project managementcourses, held at our new HaHa Creek Training Centre forHigher Learning.

Upon completion of ourcourses, you will be certifiedwith a Masters degree inProject Delivery from Ha HaCreek University.

The first phase was to invite the Regional Director to the project church topray for money

Our new Project Theologist at the construction site with his unorthodoxbut successful style of project management


16

Construction and Maintenance Branchsays goodbye to Shanna Mason

In May 2004, the Construction & Maintenance Branch staff at Headquarters saidgoodbye to Shanna Mason, who had won the position of Director of Field Servicesin Kamloops. Shanna’s strong, effective leadership as A/Manager, MaintenancePrograms and prior to that as Manager, Occupational Safety, as well as her vibrantpersonality, have left many positive memories of her. Shanna was presented withframed prints, mementos of Victoria and those she left behind. She is missed by usall and we look forward to seeing her whenever she is in Victoria.

Submitted by the Ex-Sign Shop StaffThe recent closure of the Provincial

Sign Shop last February marked an endto one ministry operation and yet openedup a new path for the nine remaining staff.All nine staff have moved on within theministry to take on new roles andchallenges.

Although change is tough at times andour comfort levels have evaporated forthe short term, we are all doing fine andlook forward to what the future brings.We all just wanted to thank the many whosupported us and praised our effortswhen we were a team at the Sign Shop.Now we are members of new teams andwould like to let our ministry friends knowwhere we are working.

Ross McLean - Provincial SignManager in Kamloops working on prog-rams under direction of Sherry Eland

New ministry roles for sign shop staff

Murray Smith - remains the ministry’sonly Sign Design Technician based inKamloops working for Ross.

Brian Lloyd - is now the only SignTechnologist providing support to Rossin delivering provincial programs

Debbie Luison - has accepted a jobas the SIR Property Management LandSurvey Coordinator

Sue Pare - is also working in the SIRoffice as an Administrative Assistant

Paul Riegert - also moved into the SIRbuilding assisting Dave Prehara andregional operations

Larry Macko - is training inDevelopment Approvals in theThompson Nicola District (Kamloops)

Warren Belcher - is training inDevelopment Approvals in the OkanaganShuswap District (Penticton)

Cecil Bianco - has moved to Kelownaas the District Operations Assistant in theOkanagan Shuswap District

The lessons we learned and friends wemade at the Sign Shop will stay with usand help us in our careers.

We found that by working as a team,our ability to satisfy our customers couldnot be surpassed. We look forward tobringing our abilities to our newworkplace.

From left to right: Ross McLean, Murray Smith, Audrey Bulk, Liaquat Mohammad, Beth Watling,Paul Riegert, Jeanne Wilson, Ray Beuckert, Debbie Luison, Larry Macko, Brian Lloyd, JohnMacWhinnie, Cecil Bianco, Warren Belcher and Geoff McDade. Missing is Sue Pare.


17

Thompson-Nicola team-buildingworkshop promotes wellness

On May 7, the ThompsonNicola District staff attendeda “Team Building / TimeSaving Workshop” in LoganLake.

Effective February 1, theremaining Sign Shop staffbecame part of the Districtteam in Kamloops. This wasthe first opportunity for thetwo groups to come together.

The purpose was topromote themes from ourPeople Plan, namely wellnessand team effectiveness. Thegroup was divided into fourteams to problem solve,brainstorm and developstrategies to improveinteroffice relationships withinthe District.

For the first activity, eachof the staff had three minutesto share a story or give a

personal biography. Thepurpose of this activity was tobring staff closer on a personallevel and share extra-curricularinterests that may be of interestto others. This was humorousand informative. Everyonefound this to be a valuableexercise.

The next event was tocompose an image of each ofthe following themes:

* Work & Life Balance

* Cooperation / Trust

* Direction / Focus

* Teamwork

* Creative Thinking

Each group was given acamera and sent out to useLogan Lake as a backdrop anduse local props to support eachtopic.

Left to Right - Vern Goodwin, Murray Smith, Percy Parent, Steve Andrews,Dave LaBar, Renee Mounteney

The third event was thepitch ‘n’ putt mini tournament.At every hole, each playershared a time-saving idearecently developed and usedat work.

Eight staff played a funround of golf after theeventful day. The day was awelcome change from theusual and a great way to getacquainted with coworkers.

On June 14, 2004, Jacques Dupas,District Manager, West Kootenay; ToddHubner, District Manager, Cariboo; andNorm Parkes, Regional Manager,Programming and Partnershipspresented Tom Freeman, Manager,Program Development, with an awardrecognizing his extra efforts insupporting the minister’s RegionalTransportation Advisory Committees.

Tom consistently provided theSouthern Interior’s RTACs with timely,high-quality products which led to asuccessful inaugural year. His workdemonstrated to the RTAC membershow professional and dedicated ministrystaff are.

Norm Parkes presents Tom Freeman with a gift certificatefor a round of golf and a letter of appreciation

Tom Freeman recognized A note fromthe editor...

In reading “Leadership isan Art” by Max DePreerecently, I came across thisquote: “A whale is as unique asa cactus. But don’t ask a whaleto survive Death Valley. Weall have special gifts. Wherewe use them and howdetermines whether weactually complete something.”

Through the pages of theRoad Runner, we canappreciate the uniqueness ofour MoT family and the giftseach of us has! Enjoy this issue.

— Cindi


18

Since 1980, the Ministry ofTransportation has been working with theUniversity of Victoria (UVic) and its co-op students. To date, there have beenover 225 co-op placements with ourorganization, and as we’ve seen a changein the way that our ministry does business,the type of student that we’re recruitinghas changed.

When the relationship with UVic wasfirst formed, students were hired fromdisciplines such as Engineering, ComputerScience/Math, Law, Physics and PhysicalEducation.

More recently, as the ministry hasstarted to emphasize efficient businesspractices as the means of delivering itsservices, an increase in business and socialsciences students has been seen. In fact, inthe past two years, some 17 MBA co-opstudents have worked in the ministry.

From left: Yongmei Chen, Patrick Spinks, ScottGillespie, Lingxia Li and Eva Boenisch

From left: Veronica Vacek, Siong Ng, Jeffrey Li,Hasit Joshi and Trish Sterloff

UVic co-op students make a difference

The projects that the MBA co-opstudents have been able to work on havebeen quite diverse. Some of the work thatthey have contributed to involved districtor regional staff as well as differentbranches within headquarters.

As a mutual benefit, the MBAs workon projects that utilize the skill sets thatthey are building during their studies. Asample of the projects they havecontributed to are process streamlining,

customer service and special projects suchas Adopt a Highway.

Partnering with the University ofVictoria and other universities throughoutthe province has proven to be successfulfrom a succession viewpoint as well, withseveral of the students staying on forlonger terms and working in capacitiessuch as Project Managers, Acting BusinessUnit Managers and Project Leaders, toname just a few.

Seven Kootenayretirees honoured

Submitted by Chad Tenney,District Engineer

The West KootenayDistrict and the NelsonRegional Staff celebrated thecareers of seven retirees lastMarch.

A grand celebration washeld in Nelson at the GranitePointe Golf Course forAudrey Kempin, DistrictClerk; Graham Greensword,Area Manager; MontyFrederiksen, SurfacingManager; Norm Yanke, RadioTechnician; Dale Holmes,CITS Technician; Gord Walter,Field Services; and ArmandoPorco, Field Services.

There was a great turnoutincluding old retirees and

current MoT staff fromaround the province. Fromwhat we have heard they areall enjoying retirement.

Armando Porco

“FUN-raising” goal ofAugust 15 darts eventSubmitted by Beverly vanDruten-Blais, GraphicsTechnician

Darts Victoria is holding itsseventh annual IcebreakerCharity event on Aug. 15.

Basically it is a “FUN-RAISING” event for anybodyand everybody (over 19)regardless of experience to gettogether for a day of hilaritywhile raising funds for theVictoria Hospice Foundation!

It’s a great opportunity tomeet new people, dust the

darts off, learn, and/orprepare for the upcomingleague season that starts inSeptember.

I am Co-Chair of the 2005Nationals Organizing Comm-ittee. We are running fund-raising events and activities tohelp offset the costs of hostingthe 2005 Canadian AdultNational Dart Championshipshere in Victoria from June 3-11. As part of that, I am sellingchocolate-covered almonds inHQ’s fourth-floor breakrooms.

Creating active communitiesThis upcoming Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2004 conference is being

held in Victoria from Sept. 7 to Sept. 10. Check out the Website:http://www.bikewalk.org/PWPB2004/PWPB2004.htm


19

Submitted by MelanieCourchene, Director,Transportation Policy

Please join theTransportation Policy Branchin welcoming Kurt Edmunds.Kurt joins us on a temporaryassignment as the BusinessManager for the DeregulationProject.

For the next six months,Kurt will be coordinating the

Registrar ofPassenger

TransportationSubmitted by Kathie Miller,ADM, TransportationPlanning and Policy

On June 28, the PassengerTransportation Act came intoforce, replacing the MotorCarrier Act as the governinglegislation for taxi, limousine,sightseeing, charter and shuttlebus services in BritishColumbia. The PTAimproves access to themarketplace while improvinglevels of service andstreamlining regulations.

The PTA creates a newposition within the ministry.The Registrar of PassengerTransportation accepts alllicence applications forcommercial passengertransportation as identified inthe Passenger TransportationAct. All applications arereviewed to determinewhether they are for generalpassenger vehicles (e.g. shuttleservices, sightseeing and tour

buses), passenger directedvehicles (e.g. taxis andlimousines) or inter-city buses.

The Registrar is responsiblefor issuing all licences,authorizing investigations andinitiating a range ofcompliance-related activities,including determining ifvehicles meet safety standardsand applying administrativepenalties and fines forviolations.

Tom Greene is BritishColumbia’s first Registrar forPassenger Transportation. Hecomes into the position from

Cabinet Operations. Hereports directly to KathieMiller, ADM, TransportationPlanning and PolicyDepartment, but his staff inthe Passenger TransportationBranch (formerly the MotorCarrier Branch) work out oftheir office in Burnaby.

Tom will have an office inVictoria Headquarters but willaverage two or three days perweek in Burnaby with thePassenger TransportationBranch.

Welcome to MoT, Tom!

***

Tom has provided somebackground about himself:

I’ve been married for 12years to a wonderful woman.I have two great step-kids: a30-year-old stepdaughterliving in Vancouver who, withher husband of one year, isexpecting her first child inDecember (we’re thrilled, butstill can’t believe I’m about tobecome a grandfather!) and a27-year-old stepson who isapprenticing to become acarpenter in Calgary. We live

New appointments - Headquarters

Tom Greene

on a North Saanich acreageamidst the arbutus and fir treeswhere we can hear owls atnight and view the stars as wedon’t have any street lights. Mywife loves gardening and Ispend endless weekend hoursputtering around our property(when I’m not either cutting thegrass in the summer orfirewood in the winter).

We love to travel to“sunshine” destinationsincluding Mexico and otherparts of the Caribbean. Wehad an incredible four and ahalf week trek to NewZealand and the Cook Islandsearlier this year.

I have heard from manyover the years how the ministryis an “employer of choice” soI was thrilled to have thechance to join when I wasoffered a secondmentopportunity.

My first weeks have beengreat. Everyone has beenmore than accommodatingand extremely helpful andsupportive. REALLY! A truefeeling of working amongst acorporate family.”

implementation and rollout ofthe new Transportation Act.

Kurt began his career withthe Ministry of Transportationin 1980.

He has experience rangingfrom paving to developmentapprovals and has worked invarious locations throughoutthe province. Some of thevaried projects he has workedon have been related to

maintenance, business processre-engineering and, mostrecently, the utilities masteragreement project.

He is currently a ProvincialApproving Officer inKelowna.

Please help all of us inTransportation Planning andPolicy to make Kurt welcomein his new role here atHeadquarters.

Kurt Edmunds: Business Manager, Deregulation


20

Jim PrewettSubmitted by David Fisher,Manager, DevelopmentApprovals

I am pleased to announcethat Jim Prewett has taken atemporary appointment asDevelopment ApprovalsCoordinator in the HighwayPlanning Branch here inVictoria, starting June 28.

Jim has many years ofexperience in districtdevelopment approvals,supplemented by recentassignments in HQ, both ofwhich will be of benefit in thisrole.

Jim will be working onupgrades to our web sites, toDAS and to policy andprocedures, as well asproviding routine coordin-ation and support to theprogram and developmentapprovals staff.

New appointments in the ministry

Jim StobieSubmitted by SveinHaugen, A/ExecutiveDirector, Program Devel-opment & Monitoring

It is my pleasure toannounce that Jim Stobie is thesuccessful candidate for theManager, Monitoring positionwith the Program Devel-opment & MonitoringBranch.

Jim has recently returned tothe ministry following a one-year TA at the Ministry ofHuman Resources, where heevaluated the province’semployment programs andhad the opportunity tomanage and supervise staff.

In addition to his recentlyattained skills, he was also aresearch officer with theBCTFA and MoT for the lastnine years. Please join us incongratulating Jim!

(Headquarters)

Al KennedyAl Kennedy, Bridge Area

Manager, Highway 97 southof Williams Lake to SpencesBridge, Highway 99 toBlowdown Creek, Highway24 to Bridge Lake.

Al brings a wealth ofknowledge and experience,with 14 years of previousexperience with the ministryand the last 16 years workingwith the maintenance con-tractor. Al is married, has twoboys and enjoys water sportsand woodworking.

Brad MooresBrad Moores, Roads Area

Manager in the QuesnelService Area #18 (QuesnelWest, Nazko, Blackwater andWest Fraser Road)

Brad brings a wealth ofknowledge and experiencewith him, with 10 years ofprevious experience workingwith the Ministry ofTransportation and the lastseven years working in theprivate sector with the roadand bridge maintenancecontractor.

Karen JeffKaren Jeff, District Clerk,

Cariboo District, joined theministry in 1992. In the lastthree years, she has beenworking in an as-and-whencapacity but she was recentlyconverted to a regularemployee.

Cam WilliamsCam, newly appointed

Weigh Scale Supervisor inQuesnel, started with theministry in 1986 and for thelast several years has workedas an Inspector with theCommercial TransportInspection Branch.

(Cariboo District)


21

More new faces around the NorthThe design team of Northern Region

is pleased to announce the arrival of theirtwo newest recruits.

Dongqing Mao’s wide array ofknowledge and experience should proveto be an asset to the design group. Havingcompleted his Civil Engineering degreein Guangzhou, China, Dongqing gatheredon-site experience during a three-year stintin construction. He has participated invarious concrete building activitiesincluding survey, project scheduling,quality control, and cost estimation.

In 2003, Dongqing graduated fromthe Civil & Structural Engineeringprogram at BCIT and was soonemployed by Emcon Services Inc. toimplement Road and Bridge Maintenancequality assurance in Okanagan-Shuswaparea.

With a strong interest in engineeringdesign, Dongqing joyfully accepted theoffer from the Ministry ofTransportation, and began his career inthe Northern Region on May 10.

Curt Watts is a seasoned veteran ofthe north country, having lived in PrinceGeorge since the age of two. LastDecember, Curt graduated from theEngineering and Design Technologyprogram at the College of NewCaledonia. Over the course of theprogram, he enjoyed an eight-month

work term in Kitimat working for astructural engineering firm, followed byanother work term right here in theregional office last summer as a YEP indesign and survey. After graduating, Curtagain worked for the ministry as anauxiliary employee in design. Shortly afterthat auxiliary term, Curt entered the TELPprogram in the same capacity (design andsurvey).

Curt has been working to sharpen hissurvey and design skills and to learn thebusiness of the ministry. Curt feels thathis autoCAD skills have improved andhe’s now in the process of learning to usethe CAiCE modeling program. Beingable to stay in Prince George is one thing,but Curt says it was the wages, benefitsand work environment that made theministry position most appealing.

Dongqing Mao and Curt Watts, two of Northern Region’s newest employees

Larry ProteauSubmitted by Don Ramsay, DMT,Skeena

In April, Larry Proteau was appointedto a position as the Skeena DistrictDevelopment Technician / Assistant AreaManager in the Northern Region.

Larry is based in Terrace, and thepicture at right, of Larry, his dog and hiscatch, tells the story of why he choosesto live and work in the beautifulNorthwest.


22

Karen Westlund has joinedthe Northern Region as ournew Pavement MarkingsOperations Coordinator.Karen has worked with FieldServices, formerly known asthe Construction Branch, since1980. She worked on projectssuch as four-laning of theJohn Hart in Prince George,four-laning from Penticton toSummerland, Annais Island,Pine Pass and most recently onthe Cottonwood Bridgerealignment in Quesnel.

Karen reports, “I am verymuch enjoying my newposition, although it wasdifficult to leave something Ihad been doing for 24 years.

New appointments in the ministry

I find I am adjusting quite welland look forward to the newadventures that await me.”

Field Services wishesKaren all the best in her newrole!

(Northern Region)Karen Westlund

So long and thanks for allthe fish.

The TransportationPlanning and PolicyDepartment is pleased toannounce that Alan Callanderhas started his first workassignment under theManagement DevelopmentProgram.

Alan has taken on atemporary appointment withthe Vancouver Island Districtas an Operations Manager intraining. The assignment is forfour months with a possible

extension to six months. Hewill be based out of the SouthIsland Operations office, butwill be exposed to workthroughout the District. Alan’sfirst day on his new assignmentwas July 5.

During his time with thedistrict, Alan hopes to learnevery aspect of how a districtworks.

The experience will bebeneficial in developing hiscompetencies for futuremanagement-level positionsand will assist him in his base

(South Coast)Alan Callander

position as a policy analyst.Knowing how the ministryworks at the district level willassist him in developing futurepolicies that can be applied byministry staff.

The ministry’s ManagementDevelopment Programprovides participants witheducation, training andpractical work experience todevelop their managementskills, while providingcontinually increasingresponsibilities and complexityof assignments over a two tofour year period.

The program was createdto assist in developing futuremanagers and leaders in theministry. This is in recognitionof the ministry’s demo-

graphics and the expected gapsthat retirements and otherturnovers will create in theministry over the next five to10 years.

We wish Alan all the bestwith his first MDP assignmentand whatever comes next.

Alan Callander

Tracy CooperTracy, our new Regional

Director, came from PrinceGeorge where he was ActingRegional Director. We are gladto welcome Tracy back to theRegion, as we appreciate thehard work and dedication hegave us when he was theDistrict Highways Manager inWilliams Lake.

MauriceLeFancoisMaurice started as Project

Manager, Project Develop-ment, on May 10, and his workincludes liaising with projectmanagement and planning.Maurice was the District Techin Williams Lake and is excitedto be in Kamloops.

(Southern Interior)


23

What’s new in South Coast RegionSubmitted by Tina Johnston, A/Regional ManagementAdministrator and Lorna Leslie, Special EventsCoordinatorReturns:� Patricia Wong has returned to the ministry as the new

Regional Operations Technician.Now working as regulars:� Tim Dyer, Project Management Technician� Gar Lee, Regional Project ManagerMoves:� Brian Lee from Lower Mainland District has been

appointed as the Regional Project Manager, Paving.� David Lee left the District to take up his roll as the Regional

Traffic Engineer.� Henry Lew from Region 2 has transferred to the Program

and Planning Engineer position.� Steve Loptson is an EIT that is coming into the region

with Traffic Operations.� Loris Tomassel has recently been appointed to the District

Technician in the LMD.� Randy Grelson from Region 3 will be coming back to

Region 1 as the Area Manager Roads in Squamish.� Gerry Fleming is going to work as a Project Manager with

the Gateway Program on a temporary appointment.� Kim Knott from MPSSG has been appointed as supervisor,

Haig Weigh Scale (Hope).� Sarah Yan from MPSSG has been appointed as supervisor,

Deas Weigh Scale (Massey Tunnel).� Karen Peterson from MPSSG is on secondment to Air

Care as an Emissions Enforcement Officer in NewWestminster until December.

� Rose Brindley and Wayne Scott from Electrical Districtwill be moving out of Nordel to take up residence in theLMD offices. Their actual move-in date is yet to bedetermined.

Newbies:� Tom Simpson is our new Capital Programs Manager.� Garret Heiman has joined the Lower Mainland District as

the new District Engineer.� Heather McDonald has come to help as our YEP student.� Veronica Vacek has joined us temporarily as the “Adopt-a-

Highway” coordinator.Farewells:� Leslie Brown from Finance is bidding farewell to the

ministry as she has been successful in a competition withthe Ministry of Forests.

Brian Lee & Gar Lee

Patricia WongHenry Lew

Tom Simpson


24

Southern Interior appointments

Dan PreharaPavement Marking

Operations CoordinatorDave Prehara came to us

after having spent all his careerwith the Geotech and Materialsgroup. We wish Dave goodluck as he keeps our linesbright, and we know he willlive up to the challenges we aregiving him.

Dan GouldRegional Manager,

EngineeringDan joined SIR on June 1,

2004. Dan has a long historywith the Construction Branchand Major Projects. You canmention Victoria, Nelson, theSea-to-Sky project and theGateway Program and Danwill be able to give you details.

Shawn GrantRegional Traffic Engineer

Shawn came to us as anEIT and then worked as aTraffic Engineer. Shawn wassuccessful in the competitionafter having been the A/Regional Traffic Engineer forthe past year. Congratulationsand keep up the good work.

KarlKlingbeil

Senior First NationsCoordinator

Karl has worked inGeotech, Regional Planningand Development Approvals.We welcomed Karl to his newposition in May 2004 and wishhim all the best.

Mark CollinsProperty Acquisitions

CoordinatorThis has been a busy year

for Mark. Within the last 12months he has held threepositions within the PropertiesBranch. Congratulations onyour latest appointment andgood luck.

ShannaMason

Director, Field ServicesShanna started with the

ministry in 1997 as RegionalSafety Officer in our oldRegions 2 and 3 and went onto various jobs in Victoria,coming to her new job in May.

RamonaHolota

First Nations CoordinatorRamona started with us on

May 10 and is very excitedabout the opportunities of herposition. We welcome herenthusiasm and are not sorryshe left MLP to work with us.

Paul RiegertA/Regional Operations

AssistantPaul started with the

ministry in January 1995 as ashipper/receiver for the SignShop. Paul came to theregional office on April 1, 2004and we wish him luck with allhis new endeavours.

online: ...€¦ · on may 7, a good time was had by all at a retirement party at the princess mary...

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