bout de papier, Vol. 9, No. 3 (1992) — Summer 1992 // Été 1992, p. 34
Past presidents of PAFSO recall their memories of Christine Manseau who died on May 3, 1992. Christine joined PAFSO as Executive Director in 1983 and faithfully served the interests of the Association and its membership with great distinction and dedication. Since 1990, Christine served as a faculty member of the Canadian Centre of Management Development providing senior public service managers with the benefit of her professional experience and expertise on labour relations issues. Editor
Christine Manseau, Directrice-exécutive de 1983-1990, a fondamentalement marqué l’APASE. Elle nous est venue avec une vision des changements qui devaient être introduits pour renforcir le rôle syndical de l’APASE tout en préservant, voire améliorer, le rôle d’association professionnelle.
Christine est venue à l’APASE d’un poste syndical où l’on se préoccupait des droits des employés et de violations de conventions collectives, pour se retrouver au sein d’une institution qui se donnait une double vocation — celles d’association professionnelle et agent négociateur. Ceci en soit causait une certaine confusion car il n’était pas toujours évident quelle vocation de l’APASE devait primer, surtout qu’un grand nombre de membres ne percevait pas l’APASE comme un syndicat à cause des relations « spéciales » qui avaient toujours existées avec le Ministère.
Christine est aussi arrivé au moment où la pire récession connue érodait toujours les revenus des membres, où les possibilités d’avancement comme par le passé disparaissait, et où les coupures de ressources financières et humaines commençaient à affecter la capacité du Ministère à remplir son mandat.
Elle a également réalisé l’importance, dès le départ, du côté « association professionnelle » de l’APASE, et le rôle primordial que jouaient bout de papier et le Comité professionnel entre autres, comme relayeurs pour faire connaître l’APASE et le service extérieur canadien auprès du public.
En examinant l’APASE aujourd’hui, on y retrouve clairement les empreintes de Christine, résultats et succès des années qu’elle a passé avec nous :
• un syndicat efficace qui n’hésite pas d’intervenir, incluant au niveau politique, dans l’intérêt des membres, et • une association jouissant d’une revue professionnelle tout à fait exceptionnelle, et qui utilise une variété de moyens pour faire connaître le haut niveau de professionalisme des agents du service extérieur canadien.
Jean-Paul Délisle Le Caire
Many were the instances when Christine went far beyond the call of her office to take care of a member’s interest. She taught me a lot about PAFSO and about staff relations. We are more than a staff association; we are a group of professionals with a deep personal and professional commitment. Christine taught me that the personal element is crucial. She knew the professional and technical side of labour relations better than most. PAFSO benefited in many ways from her knowledge and her professional contacts, not least through her unselfish work on employment equity. Yet I think it was our individual members who benefited most, those with seemingly intractable personal problems that fell outside the normal ambit of staff relations. Those of our colleagues who benefited from her counsel will know what I mean and will remember her for it. I will be forever thankful for the insights she gave me.
I last saw Christine about a month before her death. Wandering through a crowded shopping centre in a jet-lagged haze I heard a friendly voice call my name. It was Christine, pale and clearly gravely ill but full of life, hope and genuine care for an old colleague. That’s what I’ll remember about her.
Len Mader London
Foreign Service Officers sometimes had a hard time figuring Christine out. It was not surprising really, given the propensity of most diplomats to make their points in an elliptical fashion. Nothing, of course, could be farther from Christine’s style or the way she lived her life which was nothing if not straightforward and to the point.
Christine was a marvel to watch as she went head to head with other Unions and the Department on PAFSO’s behalf. She knew what was needed and how to go out and get it.
Her death is all the more tragic given how energetically and fully she lived her own life. Christine was a warm, generous human being who will not only be sorely missed by her family, but by all the good friends she has left behind.
Rodney Briggs Beijing Christine was really that rare exceptional person. One always knew where one stood in Christine’s esteem. If you made a mistake she told you. If you were proposing a course of utter folly she told you. On those rare occasions when you did good she told you that as well. Her instincts and experience almost always made her advice invaluable. Christine made PAFSO work for the Foreign Service and she made the President work for PAFSO.
Christine was above all a fighter. She fought for just causes, for what was right and for what had to be fought for. Christine was a person with genuine dignity in her professional as well as her personal life. She never gave up on losing causes at work and she never gave in to self pity and despair when she knew fate had dealt her a cruel blow. During her life, right to the end, Christine was a source of inspiration to those who knew her.
Amos Donohue Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa
Christine had an incredible amount of knowledge about the Department and the people in it. She also had a real affinity for Foreign Service officers and the challenges of the Foreign Service life, even though she had never experienced an assignment abroad. But what I found particularly useful was her contacts throughout the Ottawa federal labour relations scene. She knew everyone, from the head honchos at Treasury Board to the Heads of the major Public Service Unions. Sadly for me and others who knew her, her time amongst us was far too short. I will miss her.
Michael Fine EAITC, Ottawa Christine Manseau Memorial Fund
The Christine Manseau Memorial Fund will be used to carry on Christine’s commitment to improving labour relations in the Federal Public Service through education. The Fund will help sponsor, promote and defray the costs of seminars, courses and lectures on labour relations. The Canadian Centre for Management Development will administer the Fund under the direction of a Board of Trustees to be made up of the National Joint Council, representation from CCMD and Mr. Norman Bernstein.
Contributions can be sent c/o Norman Bernstein, 936 River Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1K 3Y8.
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Originally published in / Publié à l’origine dans bout de papier, Vol. 9, No. 3 (1992) — Summer 1992 // Été 1992, p. 34. Read the rest of this issue / Lire le reste de ce numéro →
