Member Yellowknife South

Deputy Premier
Minister of Finance
Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
Minister Responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy and Supply Chains

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,  Minister 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

Caroline Wawzonek
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

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

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have asked the very same question actually not so much of the folks of Finance but more from the folks at ITI, and I know that there is some effort underway to try and do a bit of parallel work but the online map staking program development depends very much on the regulations that it is then going to be applying. So what I understand the effort is right now is to try to put some work in parallel so that we're not entirely waiting for the final version of every regulation to be fully concluded with the Mineral Resources Act project before beginning the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So there is $40,310,000 in federal or other revenue offsets. And just on the same vein, Madam Chair, in terms of money that is being offset to either prior or future fiscal years, there's $4.886 million. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Madam Chair, I know there is a reserve for supplementary operations, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So this was concluded as part of negotiation with the territorial medical association and resulted in some small retroactive amount, but also there's recruitment bonuses and there's an amount that is resulting from changes to the locum contract rates, and I'm certainly happy to provide some further breakdown of each of those. Well, $1.2 million to the contracts for physicians, standard physician contract rate, as well as $3.4 million just over in recruitment initiatives, and $3.1 million for locums, and then just over $700,000 is for retroactive amounts, again related...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fiscal responsibility policy is really only one tool among many, not the least of which is the process that we are currently engaged in here, of examining our budgets publicly as part of this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I would note that our current rate of budget growth is the smallest that it's been in a very long time, possibly in over a decade. So certainly there are things that are working within the Department of Finance right now to manage that debt growth. But notwithstanding that, the review was done to try to make it even better. There's a number...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe, Madam Chair, that it was part of an unspent balance from the previous fiscal year, and so this is the remaining amount that was unspent now carried forward and fully satisfies the amount that was available. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2023 2024. These supplementary estimates propose an increase of $45.196 million comprised of the following items:

$2.297 million in previously approved projects as a result of transferring the 20232024 capital budgets from the Departments of Lands and Environment and Natural Resources to the newly formed Department of Environment and Climate Change; and,

An increase of $4.886 million to adjust infrastructure project cash flows to realign appropriations with the anticipated project...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there are supplementary reserves are on the operations side. There aren't supplementary reserves for infrastructure sups. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Madam Chair, I don't have that level of detail for the supplementary appropriation, but I can commit to providing that.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation, or BDIC, is excited about business development and digital transformation opportunities in the territory. As we shift to a digital economy where consumers are purchasing more goods and more services online, looking for ecommerce convenience and expecting vendors to personalize offerings, there is a greater need to support businesses to establish or increase their online presence. I am pleased to announce the introduction of the Accelerate Digital Adoption Projects for Tomorrow Fund...