Édouard is a fantastic writer, thinker and team member. His calm demeanour fits well within nearly any group dynamic. His thoughtful commentary inspires open discussions on topics and I look forward to working with him again in the near future.
James Matosevic, PMP
For the better part of 2020, I was working as a policy analyst with the Yukon Legislative Assembly. Working for the third party meant that I only had four co-workers, two of whom were Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). While both of them had fairly specific platforms, my role was to work between the two.
My responsibilities were to research and condense all the information that the MLAs might need. Often, this meant that I found out the same day what I needed to research, and I needed fact-checked notes on those topics within four hours. My responsibilities lent themselves well to the interdisciplinary experience and master-of-all approach I developed at UBC, but writing on such a tight deadline is a skill I developed during my time at the legislature.
I also wrote motions to amend legislation, as well as plenty of questions for the Legislature’s question period, where MLAs can ask the government questions pertinent to policy or regulations.
More than just curious, Édouard is inquisitive. He works to get to the root of problems; he finds and proposes solutions that will make a long-term impact. This is apparent in the way he works, as he sets up systems for long-term accountability and documentation. Beyond this, he pushes for changes to take place, willing to move away from convention to see improvements happen.
Yukon NDP Leader Kate White
I’ve also been working for the Pearson College Alumni Association. The PCAA was founded as a way to bring together the graduates of Pearson College UWC, where I went to high school.
For me, this is a way to practice what I preach and create strong digital communities. I want to create a community where everyone feels welcome and where folks can rely on each other to help with their problems or their projects.
Since Pearson College UWC is an international school, the PCAA brings together people from around the world to create solutions and insights to issues on a global scale. It’s been great connecting with all those folks, and I’m happy to be working as one of nine directors of the PCAA, helping over 4000 alumni.
In the past, I did some work as a research assistant at the UBC Peer Relationships In Childhood Lab. This was my first experience working in a lab, but it was really interesting to be working directly in academia and working towards Dr. Mikami’s research on ADHD in children.
As a research assistant, I was tasked with analyzing peer-interaction videos in French and marking out the behaviors present in the video compared to an expected average (or neurotypical) behaviour. I then had to cross-evaluate my results with those of my coworkers to assure the validity of our work.
As a part of the first cohort of French research assistants at the Lab, I was also required to make appropriate changes to the expected average behaviour document, given the cultural differences that exist in parenting styles between the two groups.
Ed Bourcier 