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.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, obviously the vision of this Assembly is laid out in the priorities of the Assembly, and certainly the vision in response to the COVID19 pandemic is laid out in Emerge Stronger, and Mr. Speaker, certainly that vision continues to evolve in response to the pandemic.
As for the Department of ITI as a single department, their role is to provide supports to all sectors of the economy so looking both from, you know, the smallest retail and the smallest hospitality or singletour operators all the way through to large investments, and we're going to continue to...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I'm quite familiar with them. I've certainly have had the opportunity in this role to meet with them. And over the last several years that they've been around, Mr. Speaker, I know they've undertaken a variety of projects on behalf of the government or have been funded through SEED money and otherwise for other projects and activities that they have undertaken in the community, Mr. Speaker. So certainly continue to work with them, continue to also be working with the modern treaties and selfgovernment forums and generally any opportunity that we have to...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is tremendous amount of work happening not only in the Department of ITI but across the government for that very exact purpose, to ensure that the Northwest Territories is a place that has all of the right pieces in place to help the economy grow. We have everything starting from the regional economic development plans, which is an opportunity to look at the individual and unique circumstances of each community from fisheries to maker spaces to knowledge economy, film, all the way through to work that's happening at the higher end of largescale...
Mr. Speaker, further to my return to Written Question 3219(2), I wish to table the following document: Summary of claims recorded since April 1st, 2014. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, it's a question that I could probably spend 20 minutes on my own speaking to. So what I'm going to suggest I do, Mr. Speaker, is focus specifically on the space of doing more around the things that we have that are so good in the Northwest Territories. And where I'm going with that is on ESG, or environmental, social, and governance factors. It's a growing area for investors all across the world, Mr. Speaker, but it's something that in the Northwest Territories is how we do business. We have strong regulatory system. It's comanagement in the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if a matter is still outstanding as a matter of ongoing legal determination, well, then we can't speak to the matter. I mean, obviously, as representative of the government, we'd be speaking on a matter that has lawyers involved that's before a legal decision maker. It's not appropriate for us to speak about the details. When it comes to this matter being settled, it is quite standard industry standard, not necessarily anything do with the government, that there would be confidentiality provisions associated. The confidentiality provisions, really, they...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't know I was going to get called Santa Claus today. But, you know, Mr. Speaker, there's I don't know I'd characterize it as exponential growth. I am able to look at of course all of the various lawsuits that are issued against the GNWT. We don't have any control over who decides to sue the government. And I've asked the department to find out whether in fact this is something where it's unusual for the GNWT as opposed to all governments across Canada. I can say from my past life, but there's sometimes a bit of a pension to sue the government on the assumptions...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at present, no, the arts logo doesn't differentiate between the artists' background of any sort. They are a Northwest Territories artist, and that is the extent of it. So I mean obviously if somebody wants to find out more information, again, they can go to the artist's profile. But that may be the sort of item where artists themselves may want to discuss with us if they are interested in seeing some differentiation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's too many times where perhaps the Member from Frame Lake and I appear to disagree. This isn't one of them. I also agree that the remediation economy is one that we need to be looking at, that we need to look at carefully, that we need to find the opportunities, and it's going to involve not only ITI but ENR, ECE, and Lands.
So, yes, Mr. Speaker, I certainly will be more than happy to ensure that bringing all of that together and updating this House happens regularly. When there's multiple departments involved, it does take a bit more coordinating. But...
