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

Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 123)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, let me try and answer it, and I am sure the Member will let me know if we need to bring the witnesses in. There are finance witnesses in the witness room.

Madam Chair, yes, it's 174 I don't have that number in front of me, but it does sound approximately correct from my recollection. But I think the question is really getting at what that does to our fiscal situation. And, yes, having an over hundred unexpectedly over $100 million in costs associated with the floods takes out the surplus that we had been projecting for 20222023 and puts us into a situation...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 123)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, subject to there being any legal reason that I can't do that, I would not have a problem doing that on a confidential basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 123)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The property's actually relatively undeveloped and as such well, I mean, I can't speak for what the company may have decided upon but I can certainly say that the GNWT is selling the property as is, and that was part of the that will be part of the asset purchase agreement, that they all the liabilities, to the extent that there are any, will be transferred and that, of course, is the basis on which the agreement is moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I do want to echo some of the concerns that I it certainly has been my experience with two children who are under the age of 12 that this is a difficult job. It's a difficult job for a parent. It doesn't matter of your gender. But I worry that it becomes a barrier. I worry that thinking of an advance about whether to run, as people may well be doing in the next year, they will worry whether or not this job is barrier to them if they have young children who are of that age.

This week alone, I have eight different family member eight different families in...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also was relieved in some ways when I had received the recommendations and the report. And the reason I say that is that the fact of managing and dealing with liquor and the sale and production and transport of liquor can be divisive but the report does do, in my view, a good job of finding that balance and operating in a way that, you know, encourages safety, encourages consumption. So I am certainly committed to seeing those recommendations come forward.

I had the pleasure of appearing in front of committee quite recently, and the message of finding a...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the actual question is whether we're going to see requirements removed or not, it's really not a final decision that rests with me to pass the legislation all on my own. I am going to bring forward the legislative proposal. As I've said, it then goes to committee, and upon committee's recommendation is when the drafting instructions do go out. But I think really what we're getting at here is the time that it does take to craft, firstly, complex legislative proposals; and secondly, to do the drafting instructions for complex pieces of legislation. I mean, the Liquor...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling the 20232024 Capital Estimates, which uses a revised approach in budgeting that better aligns the GNWT’s planned spending with actual project delivery. Overall, the proposed capital estimates include $328 million in total spending, comprised of $292.5 million in departmentally managed capital, and $35.5 million for Housing NWT.

Over the last nine years, the GNWT has proposed capital plans averaging $405 million per year but the actual average spend was only $226 million per year. Put simply, the GNWT does not have the capacity to develop all of the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am in favour of the amendment. I was not in favour of an automatic or a presumed automatic incurring significant cost. It's not thus far been my experience that generally residents of Yellowknife South are struggling to find myself or my constituency assistant by virtue of having our office here or through all other manner of opportunity. But nonetheless, that just may be tradition and it not necessarily a reality. So certainly we'll take that back.

But I will just say, Madam Chair, in reviewing this proposed motion, both originally and the now amended one, I would...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: The 20232024 Capital Estimates. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Mr. Speaker, the ideal here is to not wind up piecemealing the act or the regulations any further than what they have been already historically. And so the intention was to take all of the recommendations as a cohesive unit, put them together, and to develop a new piece of legislation and regulations that would support it. So now that said, there's really only the one brewery that I'm aware of and so perhaps they should be, you know, looking to work with the current licensing board if there are existing pathways by which they could achieve their goals now while...