Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique Annual Report 2002-2003 > COMMUNICATIONS, continued Le Cornouiller d’or Prize During the Francophone celebration of la Journée de la francophonie on March 20, 2002, the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique announced the creation of a new award to recognize the work of federal and provincial government officials who have made exceptional contributions to the development of the Francophone community in British Columbia. Any government employee working for any federal or provincial ministry, department or institution whose actions over the course of the year have contributed to the development of the Francophone community in British Columbia, is eligible for the Le Cornouiller d’or award. The Cornouiller d’or was awarded for the first time this year on March 12 and the recipient was Jean Laberge. La Fédération des ones de la Claude Provencher (President of the FFCB) and Jean Laberge, the first recipient of the Cornouiller d’or award. Mr. Laberge has been an information officer and portfolio manager with Western Economic Diversification at Industry Canada since 2000. In his position, he is responsible for energizing the economic development of the minority Francophone community in British Columbia. Among other things, Mr. Laberge is a member of the Official Languages Sub-Committee created in 1996 by the Pacific Council of Senior Federal Officials. He is also facilitator of the retention program, whose primary goal is to encourage development and retention of the French language. These informal meetings bring together bilingual employees within WED as well as various other partners who share the same goals regarding French. Mr. Laberge’s role is that of facilitator, whether the issue at hand relates to operating budgets or budgets for spe- cial projects. Overview of the 57th Annual General Meeting The 57th Annual General Meeting of the Fédération des francophones de la C.-B. took place in Richmond from June 7 to 9, 2002. The theme for the meeting was: let’s celebrate our successes! Representatives from all Francophone associa- tions across the province met over the weekend to discuss a variety of issues that are significant for the Fédération and its members. Specifically, there was discussion around healthcare, immigration, and the Treasury Board’s pilot project to enhance French-language services in federal institutions. The Fédération took advantage of the meeting to present a summary of the work done by the media advisory committee. The member- ship passed two recommendations that concluded the media committee’s work: that the Fédération . . . continue to lobby for access to signal throughout the province and that, in order to reflect our community, the Fédération ask Société Radio-Canada to take steps to increase coverage of the Francophone reality in British Columbia. During the meeting, the membership accepted a new member, the Association des francopho- nes et francophiles du Nord-Ouest, which represents the towns of Kitimat, Smithers, Terrace and Prince Rupert. The Fédération board of directors was also voted in during the meeting, with Antonine Parenteau as Vice-President, Pierre Blouin as Treasurer, Edith Bouchard as Director for Southern British Columbia, Lise Leblanc-Quinn as Director for Vancouver Island and Pierre Senay as Director for Great Vancouver. AFFNO represented by Emmanuel Cenitagoya (on the left), Administrator and Diane Dessureault (on the right), Coordinator of AFFNO.