Mr. Speaker, to complete this week, recognizing some of the achievements from Yellowknife South constituents, I am including today Dr. Ryan Connon who received the Government of Canada Emergency Management Exemplary Service Award in February. Dr. Connon is part of a three-person team, including Dr. Anna Coles and Shawne Kokelj, who, since 2020, have made up the Department of Environment and Climate Change's hydrology team. They work diligently to provide situational updates on river breakup and open water flood risks to the GNWT and to affected communities and residents.
Mr. Speaker, their work is not easy. It requires for them to be continuously monitoring changing water levels and ice conditions via satellite imagery, hydrometric gauges, live camera feeds, and also remote sensed data.
Dr. Connon and team consistently provided reports during the high flood risk to many communities to maintain situational awareness, and they shared their data and information with the GNWT as well as territorial and local emergency management organizations. Their dedication to safeguarding communities at risk of flooding is evident in many long hours. This enabled timely updates to first responders regarding changes in water flow and water levels along with a variety of other factors that could have triggered flash floods or floods.
Thank you to Dr. Connon and the other members of the Department of Environment and Climate Change hydrology team and their expertise, their strategic vision, their commitment to public service, their strong relationships with various emergency partners. All together, they have been instrumental in supporting the preparedness and the response measures for flood risk in the Northwest Territories. And so, Mr. Speaker, Dr. Connon and team are very deserving of their award, and I would like to congratulate them on their hard work. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Members' statements.
