Articles vedette / ᓄᐃᑎᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒃᓭᑦ / Feature articles
From Lachine, Quebec, Yves Chamberland was invited to join
the FCNQ in 1996. He created cash register software adapted to
how co-ops function and then implemented it in the Federation’s
stores. He was lucky enough to be there when Peter and Lucille
Murdoch were still active. They taught him of the importance of
co-operatives for northern communities.
Mean Bonn Taing is IT Director. A survivor of the Cambodian
genocide, he arrived in Canada in January 1979 as a refugee, with
no belongings, just two bare arms and a head. To be able to care
for his family, he took a one-year training program in computer
programming and began his career in 1983 in the Federation’s
Finance Department.
Originally from Morocco, Idriss Rafi began at the Federation
in September 2003 as a programmer-analyst. He was in charge
of the Tecsys System (a distribution and expedition system) used
for managing orders from the 14 co-operatives in the north.
Tecsys centralizes accounting operations carried out in all other
applications. He developed all the interfaces that made this
possible. In 2008, he was promoted to Assistant Director of the IT
Department.
When Montrealer Michael Kalinowski began working for
Ilagiisaq 14 years ago, the co-ops didn’t have internet. The only
way to connect to computers in Nunavik was by telephone dial-up.
An operation that would normally take minutes could take hours.
Michael’s work focuses on Internet security, troubleshooting and,
with others in the IT department, determining the future direction
of the IT infrastructure.
Jean Boulais holds a B.A. in Psychology from McGill University
and a B.Sc. from the Université du Québec à Montréal. For the past
11 years, he has worked to design software to interface with and
support Quasar. His latest accomplishment was creating an in-store
price checker.
Robert “Bib” Giacobbe has been at the Federation for 27 years.
He started in the warehouse as an ordinary worker, graduated to
co-op services then moved on to the Cable TV division during its
first year in 1997. He is proud that there is now a fully digital and
competitive cable television system available through every co-op,
except in Kuujjuaq. His work has also allowed him to travel to all
the Nunavik communities.
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KANGUQ Hiver/Winter 2016
Richard MUrdoch
Vincent Yadong Wang is from China. He has worked in the
FCNQ’s IT Department since 2009 where he develops Cognos
tools, Optio reports, FCNQ’s in-house apps and does a little
maintenance on the Tecsys System. He appreciates the teamwork
of the IT department.
Abdelmajid Iguermia came to Quebec from Morocco over 15
years ago. He continued his studies and got a B.A. in Electrical
Engineering, focus in Microelectronics. In 2012, he joined the
FCNQ as an IT tech support and has since improved his IT skills.
He has had the pleasure of helping all the employees in the BaieD’Urfé headquarters and in the Nouveau-Québec communities.
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