With OPS, Flexibility Meets Stability: Patricia Abergel, Senior Translator with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
Patricia Abergel grew up in France in a bilingual family, speaking French and Swiss-German with her mother… but she knew from many enchanting summers spent in England as a teenager that she wanted to live in the English-speaking world. So, at the age of 20, she moved to Canada.
“I wanted to speak English, so I went to Toronto instead of Quebec. 45 years later, I’m still here,” says Patricia.
When she first arrived, Patricia worked as a bilingual secretary in the private sector. “I worked for a sportswear company, and then in finance,” Patricia says. “After a couple of years doing that, I was really bored.”
At that time, Patricia says the two career paths for bilingual French speakers in Ontario were teaching or translating – so, she went to school and got a degree to become a translator.
For 10 years, Patricia worked as a translator, first in the private sector, then for the federal government. When she heard that the Ministry of the Environment of Ontario was looking for a translator, she threw her hat in the ring for the job. In August of 1999, Patricia started working at the Ministry’s French Language Services office, where she worked happily for 8 years…until she got the itch for change again, and applied for a translator position at the Ministry of Natural Resources. “I wanted a different work environment and new challenges,” says Patricia.
Patricia worked for 4 years in a much bigger office at the Ministry of Natural Resources, where she was one of 25 staff in her department. She says that the change was welcome, but after a while she began to miss the quiet and comfort of the 3-person team she’d left at the Ministry of the Environment. “So, in 2011, I officially reapplied for my old position – and that’s where I’ve been ever since!”
At the beginning of her career, Patricia says she wasn’t necessarily looking to work in environmental communications. “That was where I landed, because that’s what was available,” she says. “But I must say that the environment is a topic that I like a lot, because it’s so interesting, and so important. I feel like I really make an impact with my work.”
She’s seen a lot of changes in the way translating is done over the course of her career – and Patricia says in that time, it’s also become a lot more green. “At the beginning of my career, we used to work on the dictaphone. Can you believe it?” Patricia laughs. “We would translate and record it, and then our typists would type up what we had recorded. Then we would edit the paper copies they gave us, and we would give it back to the typists to make the changes. It took a lot of paper. Then we started using computers for processing – this was before the Internet, in the ‘90s – and now we work off of digital copies exclusively, so there’s almost no paper being used at all anymore. There’s been a lot of big changes, but it’s a lot better for the environment now.”
Even though Patricia came to Canada to be able to work in English, she has a lot of love in her heart for the French language and her fellow Canadians who speak it. “I am a passionate Francophone,” she says. “I really admire French speakers in Canada. They have kept their language and culture alive for so long. I feel I can participate in that effort with my work. To give Franco-Ontarians, like me, the opportunity to live in the province in their own language is what gets me up every morning.”
Patricia is just weeks away from retiring, and when she looks back at her career she says she’s incredibly grateful that she’s been able to spend the majority of it in public service. “The flexibility and stability that you get is unique,” she says. “You don’t get opportunities like that in the private sector. I feel very fortunate for the career I’ve had at the OPS.”
“I wanted to speak English, so I went to Toronto instead of Quebec. 45 years later, I’m still here,” says Patricia.
When she first arrived, Patricia worked as a bilingual secretary in the private sector. “I worked for a sportswear company, and then in finance,” Patricia says. “After a couple of years doing that, I was really bored.”
At that time, Patricia says the two career paths for bilingual French speakers in Ontario were teaching or translating – so, she went to school and got a degree to become a translator.
For 10 years, Patricia worked as a translator, first in the private sector, then for the federal government. When she heard that the Ministry of the Environment of Ontario was looking for a translator, she threw her hat in the ring for the job. In August of 1999, Patricia started working at the Ministry’s French Language Services office, where she worked happily for 8 years…until she got the itch for change again, and applied for a translator position at the Ministry of Natural Resources. “I wanted a different work environment and new challenges,” says Patricia.
Patricia worked for 4 years in a much bigger office at the Ministry of Natural Resources, where she was one of 25 staff in her department. She says that the change was welcome, but after a while she began to miss the quiet and comfort of the 3-person team she’d left at the Ministry of the Environment. “So, in 2011, I officially reapplied for my old position – and that’s where I’ve been ever since!”
At the beginning of her career, Patricia says she wasn’t necessarily looking to work in environmental communications. “That was where I landed, because that’s what was available,” she says. “But I must say that the environment is a topic that I like a lot, because it’s so interesting, and so important. I feel like I really make an impact with my work.”
She’s seen a lot of changes in the way translating is done over the course of her career – and Patricia says in that time, it’s also become a lot more green. “At the beginning of my career, we used to work on the dictaphone. Can you believe it?” Patricia laughs. “We would translate and record it, and then our typists would type up what we had recorded. Then we would edit the paper copies they gave us, and we would give it back to the typists to make the changes. It took a lot of paper. Then we started using computers for processing – this was before the Internet, in the ‘90s – and now we work off of digital copies exclusively, so there’s almost no paper being used at all anymore. There’s been a lot of big changes, but it’s a lot better for the environment now.”
Even though Patricia came to Canada to be able to work in English, she has a lot of love in her heart for the French language and her fellow Canadians who speak it. “I am a passionate Francophone,” she says. “I really admire French speakers in Canada. They have kept their language and culture alive for so long. I feel I can participate in that effort with my work. To give Franco-Ontarians, like me, the opportunity to live in the province in their own language is what gets me up every morning.”
Patricia is just weeks away from retiring, and when she looks back at her career she says she’s incredibly grateful that she’s been able to spend the majority of it in public service. “The flexibility and stability that you get is unique,” she says. “You don’t get opportunities like that in the private sector. I feel very fortunate for the career I’ve had at the OPS.”