Deputy Premier Minister of Finance Minister of Infrastructure Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
Caroline Wawzonek was first elected to the 19th Legislative Assembly in 2019 as the Member for Yellowknife South. Ms. Wawzonek served as Minister of Justice, Minster of Finance, Minister responsible for the Status of Women and the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. In 2023, Ms. Wawzonek was acclaimed to the 20th Legislative Assembly and returned to Executive Council as Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister Responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.
Ms. Wawzonek holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calgary (2000) and a law degree from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (2005). Her academic journey included language studies in China and Taiwan, as well as legal internships in the Philippines and England. Born in Calgary, AB, she has called Yellowknife home since 2007.
After establishing her criminal law practice post-admission to the Law Society of the NWT, Ms. Wawzonek appeared in all levels of NWT courts and engaged in circuit court travel. She later joined Dragon Toner, expanding her practice to general litigation and administrative law until becoming a member of the 19th Assembly.
Since 2007, she has taken on leadership roles in the legal community, including the presidency of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories (LSNT), section chair for the Canadian Bar Association Northwest Territories Branch (CBA-NT), and committee membership in various working groups. Her community involvement extends to appointments in multiple Yellowknife organizations, and she received a national award in 2017 for her contributions to Canadian Women in Law.
Ms. Wawzonek, a mother of two, enjoys running, paddleboarding, and time outdoors.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Boot Lake, that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the second time.
This bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the 20232024 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, again, Madam Speaker, that unusual consensus government process is that Members who would be on these sort of, quote unquote, "other side of the House" do get what are called substantiation sheets. That does give a fair bit of detail about upcoming projects. And it does include the budgetary detail that, again, right now most governments would consider to be not part of good procurement practice to be sharing publicly. So that's why those don't go out. But the point of the dashboard a part of the dashboard, the purpose of the dashboard I was just describing, is...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Members of the House do receive the fiveyear plan. Again, consensus government's a little bit different. This isn't necessarily how it would happen in a lot of governments elsewhere in Canada. But we do have that opportunity here to do things a bit differently. So Members do receive that. The public doesn't get a copy of the fiveyear plan, and the real and simple reason for that is the concern around ensuring fairness in the procurement process. If a total budget is put forward on a project, then there is a live concern amongst procurement that, in fact...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as MLAs, one of the platforms that we use to raise support for causes is here in the Chamber. Younger generations, meanwhile, are often very effective on platforms like TikTok and YouTube to get their voices out to those who will listen. One of my young constituents is one of those youths using social media platforms very effectively, and I want her to know that people are listening.
She had recently posted to Facebook a video sharing the reality of what too many young people are still facing every day at school. The video showed, for example, what...
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the third time. And Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.
Madam Speaker, I wish to present to the House that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm going to take a bit from my colleague down the way here and the Minister of Infrastructure. The Department of Infrastructure really does have the lead for a large portion of the capital projects that go through, and that department, in response to concerns like this, is actually developing a dashboard. It will be a public dashboard and will be providing exactly the kind of synopsis that the Member's describing. And I can certainly commit to keep him updated as to the progress on that dashboard, or I'm sure my colleague will. Thank you, Madam Speaker...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I think this question actually came up, or a version of it, during Committee of the Whole. And the Members were assured there is an asset management plan, and there is a very thorough process by which we are keeping track of all of the assets of the government and the capital needs and any, you know, needs for maintenance, etcetera, through all the departments, particularly the Department of Infrastructure.
Now with respect to where the question actually got to, which is whether or not we'll be publishing a 20year capital or the 20year capital needs...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can certainly commit that the Department of Finance, which is where any loans or other matters that are forgiven, for example, student financial assistance, anything of that nature that is going to be forgiven as an obligation or debt owed to the government, does come through the comptroller general's office, and I will see that that office does connect in with Housing NWT to ensure that if there are programs underutilized or ways that we can support that department, that office, that we will do so. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 69, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 20222023, be read for a third time. And Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.
