Honourable Olga Ilich
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Minister of State for ActNow Gordon Hogg (front row, second from left) and Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services Olga Ilich (front row, fourth
left) join in the cheers from ministry employees who participated in the 2008 Times Colonist 10K running and walking event. The ministers were on hand May 28 to present the Labour and Citizens’ Service staff with the trophy for Largest Ministry Team. A total of 176 staff were part of the walking division sponsored by ActNow BC.
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Minister Olga Ilich is thanked by Al Leier, B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Association president May 27 following the minister's speech to the 2008 convention in Victoria. Minister Ilich received a standing ovation from delegates after announcing that the Province was adding testicular cancer to the list of cancers recognized as occupational diseases for firefighters.
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Minister Olga Ilich addresses delegates at the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Association's biennial convention in Victoria, May 27, 2008. At the convention, Minister Ilich announced that the Province was adding testicular cancer to the list of cancers recognized as occupational diseases associated with long-term employment as a firefighter. Ilich also announced government's intention to add primary site lung cancer in non-smokers.
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Minister Olga Ilich and Al Leier, president of the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Association, answer questions from the media during the BCPFFA's convention in Victoria, May 27, 2008. Ilich and Leier commented on the Province's announcement which outlined the inclusion of testicular cancer as an occupational disease associated with firefighting.
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Minister Olga Ilich prepares to throw a hard drive into "The Shredder", an industrial machine that breaks down electronic devices such as cell phones, BlackBerry devices, hard drives and CD-ROMs. After the devices are shredded, the pieces are sent for recycling. The B.C. government has been using "The Shredder" since last summer to further enhance data security. This service is now available for use by the public to protect personal privacy and the environment. [Read more]
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Reserve members of Canada’s navy, army and air force joined B.C.’s Labour and Citizens’ Services Minister Olga Ilich Apr. 30 at Victoria’s Ship Point to hear a significant announcement. The provincial government has introduced new legislation which will provide job protection for reservists who serve with Canada’s armed forces during overseas operations. Illich praised the many hundreds of reservists in British Columbia who take time out from their civilian jobs to serve the country. She said government’s action ensures reservists in the future will have their regular job to come back to after fulfiling their assignment with the Canadian Forces.
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Minister Olga Ilich greets air force reserve Capt. Darin Guenette during an event April 30, 2008, at Victoria's inner harbour to announce job protection for reservists serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. Members of the army and navy reserves also joined Ilich at the event. The unpaid leave provision will apply to reservists deployed for overseas missions, including pre- and post-deployment duties related to the operation, or domestic emergencies.
[News release]
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Minister Olga Ilich (right), accompanied by Virginia Greene, B.C. Business Council president, pays her respects to workers killed on the job. Ilich and Green both attended the annual Day of Mourning rememberance ceremony Apr. 28 at Vancouver's Hastings Park Workers' Memorial. The day is set aside each year to honour the workers who have lost their lives in workplace accidents.
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On April 28, 2008, Minister Olga Ilich attended the ceremony of remembrance in Vancouver's Hastings Park, part of the annual Day of Mourning for workers killed on the job. The minister said the day marks an opportunity to reflect on the importance of health and safety in the workplace and to commemorate those whose lives were tragically cut short. Ilich noted significant achievements during the past year to improve worker safety, including new protections for farm workers, implementation of "Grant's Law" to protect gas station attendants, and WorkSafeBC's Working Alone regulations for late-night retail workers. The minister urged British Columbians to work together to ensure that all workers return home safely to their families each day.
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March 10, 2008, Minister Olga Ilich spoke to the annual legislative meeting of the B.C. Professional Firefighters' Association held in Victoria. Association president Al Leier welcomed the minister. In her speech to the meeting, Minister Ilich praised the work of all firefighters in the province and reiterated the government's support for coverage on work-related illness. In November 2005, the Provincial Government added volunteer, paid on-call and part-time firefighters to WorkSafeBC's firefighter cancer presumption coverage.
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British Columbia’s excellence in information technology was recognized at a gala Oscars-style event held in Toronto as five of 11 B.C. finalists took home awards at the 15th Annual Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA). The Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services won a Silver Award for innovation with its Intrusion Prevention System Project. [News release]
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On November 16, 2007, Honourable Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services, was joined by the Honourable Shirley Bond, Deputy Premier and MLA for Prince George-Mount Robson to open the new Prince George Welcoming Office. The office is home to Service BC and the Public Service Agency, and offers improved “one door” access to a wide range of government services. The innovative office is the first of its kind in the province.
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October 4, 2007, Honourable Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens’
Services, announced a $250,000 grant to help preserve B.C. First Nations languages. The FirstVoices project provides necessary support to digitally archive First Nations languages, some of which are currently known only among a few elders. The interactive teaching tools can be accessed online, as seen demonstrated by this Saanich Nation student. [News release]
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On July 23, Minister of Labour and Citizens' Services Olga
Ilich announced a $221,000 grant to support a Simon Fraser University study of how broadband Internet
connectivity is benefiting B.C. communities. The study, called Foundation for the Future, will
document the impact of broadband on communities that have gained broadband access in the past two
years and will lay the foundation for periodic surveys to track long-term impacts. Shown with
Minister Ilich are Lorne Mayencourt, MLA, Vancouver-Burrard; John Jones, Associate Dean of Applied
Sciences; and Richard Smith, Associate Professor, SFU School of Communication.
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On June 22, 2007, Honourable Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens' Services, and Honourable Claude Richmond, Minister of Employment and Income Assistance, officially opened the Woodlands Memorial Garden in New Westminster in a dedication ceremony attended by approximately 350 guests including many former residents. Minister Ilich dedicated the garden in memory of the 3,037 persons with disabilities who passed away while residing at Woodlands and Essondale (now Riverview) institutions between 1920 and 1958. Seated in clockwise order of appearance: Executive Director of the B.C. Association for Community Living, Laney Bryenton; We Survived Woodlands group representative Shelly Starr; Former Woodlands Resident Alfred Bennington; Former Woodlands Resident Peter Bourne.
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Woodlands Memorial Garden incorporates the theme of remembering and celebrating the lives of people with developmental disabilities and mental illness who lived and died in institutions. The memory of these people is meant to inspire visitors to the garden to include and value all people, whether at home, at work, or at play in B.C. communities.
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Minister Ilich and Executive Director of the B.C. Association for Community Living Laney Bryenton, greet a guest at the Woodlands Memorial Garden dedication event. To the left of Ms. Bryenton is Former Woodlands Resident Alfred Bennington.
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On June 18, Honourable Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens'
Services, announced a $100,000 grant from Network BC to help preserve the unique Ktunaxa language. The funding will enable the Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) to record, archive and preserve its language using FirstVoices, a suite of web-based tools and services developed by the First Peoples' Cultural Foundation and supported by the federal and provincial governments. [News release]
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On April 27, Honourable Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services joined representatives of business, labour and WorkSafeBC to observe the annual Day of Mourning for B.C. workers killed or injured on the job. Shown with Minister Ilich are Paul Jackson, a young worker who was seriously injured in a workplace accident, and WorkSafeBC CEO David Anderson. [News release]
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Minister of Labour and Citizens' Services Olga Ilich delivered opening remarks at the 8th Annual Privacy and Security Conference in Victoria on Feb. 15, with more than 1,000 international delegates and speakers in attendance. This year's theme is "Identity Management and Information Protection in the Digital World: Can we meet the challenge?" The conference is sponsored by the Government of British Columbia and is recognized as a premier conference of its type in North America.
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Effective July 1, 2007, all operators of boom, tower, and mobile cranes in B.C. will need to hold a certificate proving competency. Speaking at the announcement in Prince George, Olga Ilich, Minister of Labour and Citizens ' Services said, "Employers and labour fully support this regulation because it means that everyone who works around cranes will know that the operator is fully qualified, making for a safer workplace."
Joining Minister Ilich in the announcement were: Gary Kroeker, Business Manager, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115; Diana Miles, Vice President, Workers and Employers Services, WorkSafeBC; Don Nelson, Manager of Industry and Labour Services, WorkSafeBC; Fraser Cocks, Executive Director, B.C. Association for Crane Safety.
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Labour and Citizens' Services Minister Olga Ilich, right, joins Wayne Peterson, executive director of Victoria Hospice, to announce that more people are now eligible for eight weeks unpaid leave to care for terminally ill loved ones. The Province has expanded the definition of loved ones to include foster families, other relatives and family friends.
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On Oct. 4, Labour and Citizens’ Services Minister Olga Ilich joined with the De Patie and Crellin families to announce a mandatory pre-payment system at service stations in urban areas will be implemented to help protect employees who work late at night. Minister Ilich was joined in the announcement by Chett and Florence Crellin; and Corinne and Doug De Patie, the grandparents and parents of Grant De Patie. The new requirement will be known as Grant's Law in memory of Grant.
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On Sept. 29, Citizens' Services Minister Olga Ilich opened the first B.C. Information Summit. Speaking with a group of about 100 academics, current and former elected officials, and privacy group representatives, Ilich confirmed the government's commitment to being the most open and accountable government in Canada and thanked the stakeholders for their continued interest and efforts in promoting access to information. The Information Summit comes at the conclusion of Right to Know Week, which is observed in B.C., Canada and in 60 countries around the world.
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