18
FMI
*
IGF JOURNAL
VOLUME 25, NO. 2
WHERE THE GOBBLEDYGOOK FLOWS NATURALLY
on the State of Aging IT Across the
Government of Canada”: 34. Reading
grade level: 20.
Then print out what you’ve written,
find an empty room, close the door
and read it out loud. The eye forgives
convoluted writing. The ear abhors it.
You’ll be crossing out clutter, acronyms
and jargon in no time.
Too much time and money is spent in
the public sector to produce confusing
documents. Improving government
writing should be a standardized
mission-critical key priority in all
modernized departmental working-
group systems.
About the Author
Roger Collier is an Ottawa writer and former public servant. On Twitter @
RogerAFCollier.
He grew up in Bay d’ Espoir, a small community on Newfoundland’s
south coast.
In 1999, Roger graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from
Memorial University of Newfoundland and moved to Ottawa to design
microchips. Later, he worked as a patent examiner and, in 2007, as a staff reporter for the
Ottawa Citizen.
He is now a writer and editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Roger’s writing
has also been published on Newsweek.com and in the Globe and Mail, the Christian
Science Monitor and various other publications.
He lives in Kanata, Ontario, with his wife, daughter and son.
The fmi
*
igf’s newly-launched youth
network,
the
Aspiring
Leaders
Network (ALN), held its inaugural
event this past February. An excellent
turnout of over 35 young financial
management professionals, from across
federal departments and private sector
organizations, came together at the
Lieutenant’s Pump in Ottawa.
The evening was kicked off by the
Network’s Chair, Mr. Jack Diao, who
presented the ALN’s vision and outlined
its goals to its newly-formed assemblage:
“Imagine yourselves a year from now,
looking back as founding members or
executives, having built a strong, profession-
focussed network backed by the FMI!”
The evening’s activities consisted of
fun networking games, a number of
draws for prizes, and social mixing to
build connections. In attendance were
the heads of other youth networks in
the National Capital Region, as well as
fmi
*
igf’s National President, Marcel
Boulianne. The feedback from event
attendees was overwhelmingly positive.
The Aspiring Leaders Network is
sponsored by fmi
*
igf National, run
entirely by an executive committee
selected from the group, plans on hosting
a number of both social and professional
development events throughout the year.
While it is currently based in theNational
Capital Region, plans are underway to
export the model to all fmi
*
igf chapters.
The ALN is always looking to expand
its base. If you are interested in helping
out with event organization, or you just
want to partake in some great networking
opportunities, please do not hesitate to
contact us. For more information and
for updates of ALN upcoming events,
“like” us on Facebook (
and join our mailing list
(e-mail:
.)
Aspiring Leaders Network: We Have Liftoff!
ALN kick-off meeting February 20th in Ottawa. Jack Diao, Network Chair, is pictured far right.
