Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, I made some comments about the events that led to the evacuation of the people of Fort Norman and then Norman Wells. I wanted to add to that statement today by also making mention of the mayor of Fort Norman, Lorraine Doctor. Some of you may have seen her on CBC National News last weekend. She has been working throughout the crisis in Fort Norman.
I want to mention how proud, not only myself, but many people from Fort Norman are of the way she carried out her work. It was stressful and she had very little sleep, but she carried out her work, in a very well-thought-out and determined manner. Throughout the whole process, she has kept her own counsel and has done an excellent job in showing how much she cares for her people and her community. I wanted to add that to the comments I made about the contributions that Chief Jonas Neyelle made to the whole operation, in spite of his health problems.
There should also be mention of the excellent job that the owners of North-Wright Air, Caroline and Warren Wright, performed. They contributed to the evacuation last Thursday of the people of Fort Norman from Norman Wells to Deline. I would also like to mention the owners of Ursus Aviation, Blair Jensen and Bea Jensen. Both airlines, along with Williams Arrow of Norman Wells put all their planes to work: Twin Otters, Islanders, Navahos, down to two-seaters, flying people as quickly as they could and as safely as they could over a six-hour operation.