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 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is really one of the core elements of government renewal and the shift in thinking around this is that every department has to be thinking about its evaluative process. We have, Mr. Speaker, when government renewal was coming out, we put in place a requirement of program evaluation policy requiring that any programs over $2 million, we need to have a logic model and performance tracking indicators. Mr. Speaker, a lot of programs did not. A lot of departments struggled with that. The majority of the capacity for evaluation resides in the Department of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that's the regional COLO payments. Madam Chair, I didn't bring those details. That has been already before the House. So I certainly can provide an update to Members, but I don't know that we have that here in front of us. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that all of the phase 1 work, including up to and including the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, have all had their inventories completed as of July of this year. That was the last group to make their way through. That work is all done now. And phase 2 is also well underway.

Since November of last year, we kicked off with Housing Northwest Territories, Department of Finance, and Department of Education, Culture and Employment. They are the first ones to see themselves having their programs select programs...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I certainly have asked that the idea put forward that there be some further effort from one of our counterparts in the federal government responsible for this that they be in a position to provide more funding, that they recognize the burden they've put on small communities, and recognize the burden they've put on small Indigenous and remote communities. So let me see certainly if I can provide some further information on their behalf. It's certainly my efforts to distinguish the Government of the Northwest Territories from the choices made in Ottawa, I...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm quite pleased to get that question. I can say a couple of things quickly, mindful of time, although I would be happy to go on longer if I had more time.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, the MIP, or the Mineral Incentive Program funding, this is the amount of funding that is provided to exploration projects of all different sorts. And out of the almost $1.5 million disbursed thus far, Mr. Speaker, over $1.2 million of it went to critical minerals and metals projects, including a good proportion for lithium projects. So there's that.

It helps leverage...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, again, the federal government changed the tax rates on April 1st of this year and when there's the ability to make the calculation of the amounts for the year, then we will do that and be able to do that. The federal government does provide the rebates on a quarterly basis. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not under the agricultural strategy, there's not a carve out for one riding or another necessarily. They are done by ways of application. So, therefore, not necessarily reflecting that there might be more challenges to participate in one form of food growth and food commercial good growth or food creation because, Mr. Speaker, there's other options. And certainly, in some communities, country food harvesting may well take a greater place and have a greater role in providing for a community than what agriculture, say, might in another. But that's...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, on my left I have Kelly Bluck, the director of fiscal policy for the Department of Finance. And Laura Jeffrey on my right, legislative drafter in the Department of Justice.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that the I mean, we certainly have been receiving funding from the federal government under the sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership. This is a fiveyear investment by the federal government in the agrifood sector. And for us, we are expecting over $7.6 million over the life of that agreement here to the Northwest Territories which is, I would note, a 25 percent increase on numbers we were getting under the last agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here this evening to present Bill 92, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, No. 3. The purpose of Bill 92 is to add carbon tax revenues sharing grants sharing community grants and annual reporting requirements to the carbon tax legislation. This bill represents our final collaborative effort to revise the territorial carbon tax regime to meet federal 2023 to 2030 carbon pricing benchmarks.

As part of March 23rd discussions concerning Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, we worked together to better mitigate the...