- FROM THE TOP
- Linguistic Duality Day
- Anti-Racism Event Series
- POLAR’S PEOPLE
- Ian Hogg co-authors new paper
- LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
- Blog: Learning Insights
- Inuinnaqtun/Inuktitut word of the week
- Are you ready to Talk the Talk?
- UPDATES
- Key outcomes from Senior Management Committee
- WORKPLACE NOTICES
- Impacts of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities
FROM THE TOP
Linguistic Duality Day
Join the Canada School of Public Service and the Council of the Network of Official Languages in celebrating Linguistic Duality Day on September 10, 2020, where they will host a virtual talk from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET on official languages in the era of telework. The talk will be led by Stéphan Déry, Chair of the Council and Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch at Public Services and Procurement Canada. Register now!
In this year of the 50th anniversary of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, try the Commissioner’s quiz and test your general knowledge of the history of official languages in Canada. It will be posted on the Office of the Commissioner's portal for public servants in early September. Good luck!
Help celebrate Linguistic Duality Day on social media by using the hashtag #JDL2020LDD!
Anti-Racism Event Series
The new Anti-Racism Event Series is designed to help you and your teams understand and have discussions around issues of racism and systemic barriers that exist for marginalized and racialized groups of Canadians. This series will feature the latest information on topics such as anti-Black racism, unconscious bias, disaggregated data, mental health and the challenges faced by visible minorities in the public service. All these events are offered virtually via webcast.
Upcoming events:
Understanding the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent
Date and time: September 9, 2020 | 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Registration deadline: 10:00 a.m. (ET) on September 9, 2020
Language: Bilingual, with interpretation in both official languages
Location: Available across Canada by webcast
Audience: All public servants at all levels
Visible Minorities in the Senior Ranks of the Public Service of Canada: Challenges and Opportunities
Date and time: September 17, 2020 | 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Registration deadline: 10:00 a.m. (ET) on September 17, 2020
Language: Bilingual, with interpretation in both official languages
Location: Available across Canada by webcast
Audience: Executives at all levels
POLAR’S PEOPLE
Ian Hogg co-authors new paper
Ian Hogg, POLAR’s Team Lead, Ecosystem and Cryosphere Research, has co-authored a recent paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The paper, based on nearly twenty years of research on Antarctic Collembola (springtail) species, explains how the genetics of these tiny creatures contain clues to the history of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Changes in the extent of ice sheets over millions of years have at various times either separated Antarctic Collembola populations from each other or allowed them to disperse. Ian and his colleagues used genetic differences to estimate how long Collembola populations along the Transantarctic Mountains have been isolated. They found, for example, that four species had genetically distinct populations, meaning they have probably been isolated for millions of years. The findings agree with reconstructions of past Antarctic climates and estimates of the timing of warm periods when open water would have enabled Collembola to disperse. Read more.
LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
Blog: Learning Insights
The Canada School of Public Service learning insights blog serves as an extracurricular learning tool for all public servants. It is the exclusive source for insights, takeaways, trends and other best practices related to learning in the Government of Canada workplace. Topics include the importance of continuous learning, professional development, digital learning and more.
Latest blog posts:
Acknowledging Indigenous Traditional Territory
Learning Insights: Navigating Through a Career Transition
Inuinnaqtun/Inuktitut word of the week
The Inuinnaqtun/Inuktitut word of the week is: tingmisuuq. It means: airplane
It is pronounced: ting-mee-sook
Listen to the pronunciations here:
Are you ready to Talk the Talk?
UPDATES
Key outcomes from Senior Management Committee
Here are the key outcomes and decisions from the September 2, 2020, Senior Management Committee discussions:
- SMC considered and approved the allocation of POLAR housing for a proposed new hire, as per its new required process.
- SMC reviewed and discussed the draft agenda for the upcoming Board of Directors meeting.
WORKPLACE NOTICES
Impacts of COVID-19 on persons with disabilities
Statistics Canada has shared the results of their recent crowdsourcing survey on the “Impacts of COVID-19 on people with Long-Term Conditions and Disabilities.” This is an important first step in understanding and assessing how Canadians with disabilities and long-term conditions are affected by COVID-19. Just over one-fifth of the Canadian population has one or more disabilities. However, relatively little is known about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. As highlighted by a recent publication using data from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), persons with disabilities may be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic.
From June 23 to July 6, 2020, approximately 13,000 Canadians with long-term conditions or disabilities participated in an online questionnaire, "Impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians: Living with Long-term Conditions and Disabilities." Statistics Canada has released its findings as part of a series of results based on this crowdsourcing initiative. The survey results are available in audio and video. For more information visit www150.statcan.gc.ca.