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

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 , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 140)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me direct that to the deputy, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 140)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So Mr. Chair, there's certainly are particularly because of the nature of this being in a joint federal program, the federal programs do have reporting requirements. There are some data collection. I don't have one of those agreements in front of me but what I can commit to do is to perhaps provide we'll go back and see what we can provide in terms from those reporting requirements that we have so we can provide that to the Member and if it's public, we'll make that public. I just need to confirm that there's nothing within those agreements that I'm unaware of that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 140)

Without knowing the date of the fish fry, Madam Speaker, it's a bit difficult to commit but I would love a fish fry, and I'm sure we can coordinate an appropriate date to be in Hay River for a fish fry. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Grants and Contributions Results Report 20212022; and, What We Heard Report 2022 Engagement on Resource Royalties. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, certainly we don't want to create government barriers or bureaucracy, particularly in a context where some of the criticism we get is that our regulatory systems already have quite a lot of layers to them. Certainly what we found in the last recent while is that there's a shift internationally recognizing the value of having a robust regulatory system, one that involves and engages Indigenous peoples from the very beginning so that when a project goes through that process, they know that it's certain, they know that it's secure, and they know that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, Madam Speaker, there was a letter sent out to Indigenous governments back in October of 2022, and I know I've heard back directly myself from some, and others I know, or I believe are going to be participating in the community consultations. There's two months’ worth of community engagement sessions happening now through to the end of March. And, Madam Speaker, I just want to also note I had also heard that some people of course can't necessarily make it to a specific date. I've asked that we had a virtual session towards the end which would hopefully capture...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, under the current policy, the affirmative action policy, there is still this ranking system that goes on, what everyone knows as the P1s, P2s, but within that you have P1A, P1B, and all these different sorts of ranking depending upon the position, depending upon who's in the position. So there's already complexity within there that categorizes people under different ways depending on the job and then creates this priority listing. Madam Speaker, what we're actually doing now is separating that out so that it is very clear that first there is the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this touches on finance as well because this is an area that's going to potentially drive our future economy.

I have to say we did have the opportunity to comment on the federal critical minerals metals strategy before it was final, and I would suggest there are a lot of elements in there that I think reflect exactly on the submission that we made and reflect exactly on what we wanted to see in terms of being a strategy that is now high level. The next step, obviously, proof is in the pudding where are they going to spend their dollars? Those...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the final version of the critical minerals strategy is still fairly new. I think it was only within the last year they've been doing some consultations on it. And obviously it's difficult for me to say precisely what we hope the federal government may or may not do. What I can say, Madam Speaker, is at this point we have put ourselves in position to be at the second round of tables. They are conducting national resource energy tables right now, "they, the federal government. And we were not initially on round two but we are now. And that process has...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Madam Speaker, I think my first two answers were already long so I'm going to try and get this one shorter, but this one could be longer than the last two.

I'm happy to say that really, we have a lot of those policies. And I certainly wouldn't want the fact that we are now at the next stage of really developing our attention on Indigenous hiring, and of being a representative workforce, to lose sight again of the fact that we do now have the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. In that, there are action items, and within all of that as well and in conjunction with that, we still have...