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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like any other new matter, item, concern, question, safety issue, or otherwise, the process would be the same. Obviously, departments would consider often what's happening in other jurisdictions, could consult locally with municipalities, jurisdictions, regional governments to see what needs there may be.

In this particular instance there is, in fact, quite a number of jurisdictions who are struggling with the question of what to do appropriately to balance considerations for Escooters. And so the Canadian Council of Motor Transportation Administers and...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Well, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, there's no exemption for anything other than home heating fuel right now after the fall round or spring -- fall round with the federal government. So I guess their response is that they've chosen not to do that. The ask also went from British Columbia. So we might even say, again, if it's a political matter, we have relatively small presence in terms of our representation in Ottawa. British Columbia has a very large presence in terms of their representation in Ottawa. They, too, did not get an exemption for LNG, which a number of their residents also rely on...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that clarifies for me the comment, I think, made earlier about being extensive meetings. Because I've had one meeting. But I know when we were meeting with the Minister of health, because there's an alcohol-managed alcohol program here in the Northwest Territories and some interest in whether or not a local brewery could participate to support that, that's a very different question, Mr. Speaker, from asking whether or not the production cap needs to change, the markup needs to change, regulations around holding or transporting need to change. That does sit solely...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so, again, the general markup rate does apply to everything that's coming across this border, including, you know, the bigger companies or whatnot. I would first note, Mr. Speaker -- there's a lot of folks that listen to us here -- there are rules with respect to interjurisdictional trade, and that does apply to the cross-border sales of alcohol across all of Canada. So certainly anything we do when we make changes in this space do need to be compliant with the trade rules, trade regulations. But to the extent that we are able to create a system that is...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following six documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Public Sector Positions since 2019-2020; Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 9-20(1): Home Heating Rebates; Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 19-20(1): Carbon tax Revenues Spent on Climate Change Adaptation; Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 41-20(1): Lutselk'e Road Access; Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 46-20(1): GNWT Carbon Taxation; and, Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 133-20(1): GNWT Policy on Indigenous Hiring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that I intend to deliver the Budget Address on Friday, May 24, 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is certainly not a good day for water levels in the Northwest Territories and certainly not a happy day that we've had to cancel the barge season. Having seen last summer and the challenges that there were from having low water, to have to begin this season at the same point certainly makes it very challenging.

Having gone through last summer season being as challenging as it was, MTS made itself -- put itself in a position where this winter road season and, frankly having sat down with leadership, including the MLA from the region -- sat down and made...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, by maintaining our own system that complies with the federal rules, we do control how the COLO does get set. And what we have done in that regard, Mr. Speaker, although we adjusted it because there's a significant drop in revenue to the GNWT with respect to not having home heating fuel anymore, we did still maintain and do an analysis to ensure that the existing COLO amounts should still be enough to pay for the additional amount from the tax, so -- which is challenging at a time when diesel costs have gone up and fuel costs have gone up and...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Well, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, I'm often in a situation where I have to just say I agree and then want to sit down. So I've heard the Member's statement earlier. The carbon tax is a challenging one for the Northwest Territories. We're at the front lines of climate change. We desperately need to see change in terms of the approach to overreliance on fossil fuels. At the same time, this is a jurisdiction that doesn't actually contribute, certainly on the part of residents, very significantly to it. So I hear that concern. And I hear it particularly from parts of this territory who are on LNG...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is quite correct. The current Liquor Act, which is still the old Liquor Act that we're operating under, has some pretty limited mechanisms and actually is quite out of date. So in the last Assembly, we were very pleased to see a change to the liquor legislation, modernizing it. Still need to get those regulations put in place. So this is, in some ways, the right time to be asking what those regulations might contain because we are at the point of being able to put those regulations together in a way that can, again, respect the different social...