2014 Operator of the Year Recipient


John Kalinczuk, Water Resource Manager/ Chief Operator with the City of Dawson Creek

The 2014 EOCP Operator of the Year Award is being presented to John Kalinczuk, Water Resource Manager/ Chief Operator with the City of Dawson Creek. John currently holds WT IV, WD IV, WWT II, and WWC I. He is now pursuing his WWC II certification.

John was nominated by a peer who wrote that he “consistently goes the extra mile to not only succeed in his role, but to help those under his supervision fulfill their goals. He continues to play an advocacy role for the health of the surrounding watershed through public tours, education and awareness campaigns as well as presentations to City Council. Not only is John constantly looking to advance his knowledge through additional certifications, I have also known many personnel under his direct supervision who valued his leadership and supportive management technique to help them fulfill their goals. This often included him encouraging those employees to seek further certifications or gain experience in different roles throughout the water system.”

We congratulate John for demonstrating his passion and commitment, and also for his continued support for EOCP.

2013 Operator of the Year Recipient


John Halfnights receives his award from Mike Gosselin, EOCP President

The 2013 Operator of the year award is being presented to John Halfnights from the City of Williams Lake.  John was first certified in 1982, and became a Lifetime EOCP member in 2012.  John holds Water Distribution III, Wastewater Collection III & Wastewater Treatment I certifications.  He has been an Operator with the City of Williams Lake for over 40 years, and is currently the Water/ Sewer Foreman.

John is greatly respected by the Operators who work with him in WilliamsLake, and they can see the dedication he has to the utility systems, the crew and the City.

The Operators at Williams Lake consider John a mentor, with experience in so many aspects of the field.  They feel being trained by & working with John creates a better Operator.  They get to see & work with a true and dedicated professional.  John is a problem solver and enjoys the technical aspects of the job.

John is looking into developing & teaching his own course, and getting it into the EOCP Training Registry.

He is involved in the community, and was recently President of the Williams Lake Legion.  He still volunteers his time helping with plumbing, and other maintenance for the building.

John is able to retire, but he hasn’t because he enjoys the challenges of the job, working with the crews & contractors, and is still enjoying himself after 40 years on the job.

The Operators of Williams Lake are delighted that John is receiving this award because of the hard work, dedication and extra effort he has put in over the years to support and improve the public works system and the community.

2012 Operator of the Year Recipient


June Williams Operator of the Year for 2012 with Mike Gosselin

June Williams is the recipient of the first EOCP Operator of the Year Award. She started in operations in 1999 in a very remote community. She was first certified in April 2003 and holds certificate # 4212 in WT II & WD II. She is the Chief Operator at the Tachet Water Treatment Plant, and Water Distribution System. She has had many trainees over the year and one of them, Luma Dumont, is now the Chief Operator at their Wit’at Water Treatment Plant.

She never really thought of herself as a teacher, but now she tutors all aspects of water treatment and distribution and has a particular expertise in math and jar testing. She has done presentations on math and jar testing for other bands in her area, where they will come in for the day and learn hands-on in her system or goes to their plant to help them. Even when she is not teaching she get calls from operators, works on their problem, and then goes over it on the phone with them.

She has been asked by the College of New Caledonia to develop short courses for Operators in her areas of expertise. Right now she is organizing and will be putting on a workshop in Tachet in September about water awareness. She will be one of the first First Nations Operators to get directly involved in the Training Registry.