Caroline Wawzonek

Députée de Yellowknife Sud

Circonscription électorale de Yellowknife Sud 

Caroline Wawzonek a été élue pour la première fois à la 19e Assemblée législative en 2019, comme représentante de Yellowknife Sud. Elle a été ministre de la Justice, ministre des Finances, ministre responsable de la condition de la femme, et ministre de l’Industrie, du Tourisme et de l’Investissement. En 2023, Mme Wawzonek a été élue par acclamation à la 20e Assemblée législative et a réintégré le Conseil exécutif en tant que première ministre adjointe, ministre des Finances, ministre de l’Infrastructure et ministre responsable de la Société d’énergie des TNO.

Mme Wawzonek a obtenu un baccalauréat ès arts de l’Université de Calgary en 2000 et un diplôme en droit de la faculté de droit de l’Université de Toronto en 2005. Son parcours universitaire comprend des études de langues en Chine et à Taïwan, ainsi que des stages de droit aux Philippines et en Angleterre. Mme Wawzonek est née à Calgary (Alberta) et habite Yellowknife depuis 2007.

Une fois admise au Barreau des TNO, Mme Wawzonek a mis sur pied sa propre pratique du droit pénal et a plaidé à tous les échelons du système judiciaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, et s’est souvent déplacée dans les collectivités ténoises à cet effet. Elle a ensuite intégré le cabinet d’avocats Dragon Toner, élargissant sa pratique au litige général et au droit administratif jusqu’à ce qu’elle devienne députée de la 19e Assemblée.

Depuis 2007, Mme Wawzonek a assumé de nombreux rôles de leadership au sein de la communauté juridique : elle a notamment été présidente du Barreau des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et présidente de section pour la division des Territoires du Nord-Ouest de l’Association du Barreau canadien, et a participé à divers groupes de travail. Son engagement envers la collectivité l’a amenée à œuvrer dans de multiples organisations de Yellowknife et, en 2017, elle a reçu un prix national soulignant le travail de femmes canadiennes œuvrant dans le domaine du droit.

Mère de deux enfants, Caroline Wawzonek aime courir, faire de la planche à pagaie et passer du temps à l’extérieur.

Committees

Caroline Wawzonek
Yellowknife Sud
Bureau

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Boîte
1320
Extension
12177
Vice-premier ministre, Ministère des finances, Ministre de l'Infrastructure, Ministre responsable de la Société d'énergie des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Mobile
Ministre

Déclarations dans les débats

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House that Bill 16, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2025-2026, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was just trying to pull the report out fast enough. I have it in front of me, Mr. Speaker. But, really, at this point, we -- and I've gone through this many a time. We spend far more as a government on -- in terms of our energy, energy supply, energy policy, climate change initiatives, energy efficiency programs, energy and electricity programs, significantly more there than what we take in on this tax. What we don't do in general, not just with this tax but any other form of tax, any other form of revenue, is pick out a certain type of revenue and...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not necessarily designed or intended to run with surpluses. It is intended -- our program is intended to align with the parameters that the federal government has imposed on provinces and territories around the carbon taxation and while doing so, doing so in a manner that we can continue to see some benefits here in the territory by not misaligning with the kind of large emitters that we have. So, again, not designed for surpluses but, again, really designed for that kind of compliance mechanism. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I've said, I will go -- I've been waiting to see what is happening on a national level. I'm happy to go back to that group and receive from them and push them to see what their recommendations are. If it's possible to put those into a regulatory process, that's a little bit faster. If we're talking about a new piece of legislation, that is obviously not typically a lot faster. So let me go and see what they are recommending on a national level so that we can then look to where we could fit that into our process. In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this did certainly come back through my office, and I recall that it was not deemed to be appropriate to put into the miscellaneous statutes bill. Mr. Speaker, there is some work happening on a national scale. So some jurisdictions, larger jurisdictions than ours, are in a better capacity to maybe perhaps do their own thing, but there is also a national level working group that is trying to tackle this issue, and we are relying on them so that as a smaller jurisdiction we can benefit from the work that happens in the larger jurisdictions and not have to...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can speak for the work that's happening within the Department of Finance and that has been underway for sometime. We have advocated and continue to advocate to CRTC, as well as to federal colleagues, in ISED responsible for the broadband fund, that these funding pots need to be available to support telecommunications around the territory, around remote communities, and to better support these access points. So this was an opportunity when we saw some increases in funding. For example, when the broadband line went up to Whati, it was an opportunity for...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the importance of ensuring that we get now a process as well that's clear and that's well thought out in terms of what we are looking for before the expression of interest goes out, designing a matrices of board composition. This is actually the kind of work that's been happening slowly over the last few years in the GNWT, is to move a lot more boards towards having a matrices of what competencies are required for success, what kinds of backgrounds, what kinds of education, what kinds of regional representation, to ensure that the board is...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is something that is a commitment from the very end of the last government in carrying forward and one that I'm certainly happy to action. One of the first things that we do need to do is make sure we design what an appropriate and professional board and non-deputy minister board is going to look like. So the intention there is to ensure that we are outlining what the criteria will be for an expression of interest. That is right now underway, determining what that should look like -- it is being led by the Department of Infrastructure -- to ensure...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 16, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2025-2026, be read the second time.

This bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 37)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Budget Dialogues 2024: What We Heard; and, Fall 2024 Economic and Fiscal Update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.