"I'm simply doing my job," said O'Connor. "But I really appreciate the recognition."
He said he was "stunned" to find out he was receiving the award, though he doesn't see himself as a whistleblower, rather an advocate.
O'Connor, who worked as a physician in Fort Chipewyan, said people in the community would tell him they were concerned about how sick people were getting. O'Connor said he started to notice that a disproportionate number of people were getting both rare and common cancers.
Elder Alice Rigney said people would talk about the health issues at a community level, but O'Connor "spoke out for us."