Caroline Wawzonek

Member Yellowknife South

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.
 

Committees

Board of Management
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Office
(867) 767-9143
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
Mobile
867-445-7437
Minister
Email
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is correct.

Question 1242-19(2): Business Incentive Policy
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had a conversation earlier with the Member, and I did receive this letter. So I have details of the specific incident that's given rise to these questions but the questions are ones that should be posed in the context of the work we're doing on the procurement review. Certainly no Minister who is responsible for any project wants to have to hear that, in fact, bids are not being received as we expect them, that the processes and policies we have in place are not being followed. Even vendor performance management, we don't want to have to use vendor...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

I'll turn that over to the chief information officer, please.

Question 1242-19(2): Business Incentive Policy
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, a company that is not BIPed can still receive a BIP adjustment. That is pursuant to one of the interpretive bulletins that's associated. If you go to the BIP web page, there's a whole list of interpretive bulletins. What it matters is whether or not there's Northwest Territories content or local content and if, in fact, there's so in other words, the company that's bidding on a contract, if they themselves aren't BIPed but their direct subcontractors are, including or if they have local content, they are still eligible to use the BIP adjustment or the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not privy to Infrastructure's plans for their dashboards for their projects but I can certainly take away the prospect of a dashboard for all of the IT projects that sit under Finance. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I don't have that level of detail. But let me start with the deputy minister and someone at this table might.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 126)

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left is Billy MacKay, the deputy Minister of Finance. And on my right is Stephen Flanagan. He is the drafter from legal division.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 126)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm here to introduce Bill 53, An Act to Amend the Liquor Act. This bill proposes four administrative amendments to the Liquor Act that would benefit from immediate attention.

First, updating personal importation limits to increase the quantities of liquor that a person may bring with them into the Northwest Territories;.

Second, removing enforcement as part of the Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board's role due to potential conflict of interest;

Third, removing the ban on licensed applicants who have been charged with but not convicted of a criminal...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 126)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not in a position to give a specific time at this stage. I am live to comments from committee regarding their interest in the larger piece of this, and I have certainly been working in the last little while with the department towards being in a position to give a more specific timeline. It is certainly my expectation that we will still see the completion of the larger act within the life of this government. But, again, I'm just at a stage of being able to confirm that hopefully before the end of this sitting. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 126)

Yes.