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, the insurance waiver wasn't intended to be a oneyear initiative; however, it was focused on those who aren't making offerings to the public. So there certainly are going to continue to be a requirement for some regulatory oversight and some insurance oversight for tourism operators when they are offering their services to the public.
That said, Mr. Speaker, there are, as I've said, programs that are imminently, I hope, going to be rolling out, other programs that I expect will that are ready available through various other, you know, funding...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am also on the special committee. I also heard the recommendations that were put to us just last week with respect to the fact that governments have to ensure that direction comes from the very top.
So I appreciate the fact that the Member routinely gives the opportunity for us, all of us in this room as elected leadership, but particularly for me as the Minister have the opportunity to speak here in the House and speak to the public service to say that this is the vision of what we have for an inclusive public service, to have a diverse...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Finance, human resources has quite a wide range of programs that are meant to actually avoid roadblocks and overcome roadblocks.
I'd point, for example, to the Indigenous recruitment well, sorry. Not to the framework but to the Gateway Program, to the Internship Program, to the Regional Recruitment Program. There's quite a number of opportunities for people from across the Northwest Territories to become involved.
The department of human resources offers counselling in terms of preparing one's resume, of how to prepare for...
I was listening earlier to some of the other examples given. I've tried to use some of the other resources that were named and found them very difficult. As I've said, I'm right now looking at the section on oil and gas licences and finding that it meets the needs that I have. I'm in the same situation. Yes, I think this issue has come up generally, that the ITI website doesn't provide sufficient transparency to meet the regulation requirements or the legal requirements that we have. We want to achieve that. We want to be useful to the public. Again, I'm going to suggest that I'll connect with...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: "Inter-activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to December 31, 2020)." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, the issuance of the licence is non-discretionary, so there was no discretion to issue the licence. With respect to adding terms or conditions, under the new act, there are some provisions where there may be some additional conditions required, with the agreement of the proponent, and that was not an approach that was decided to be used in this case. Again, this is a situation that will not be occurring in the future. This is one of the last, if not the last, occasions where a proponent that existed under the previous regime is being brought into the new regime. I sought the expert...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Significant discovery licence 153 does cover a portion of the former EL494, which is for Husky Oil Operations, and that was issued on March 16th. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I enjoy this question. It's not dissimilar to one that I think the Member has asked previously, and what's interesting about it is trying to figure out whether or not, in fact, the incentive of having more people in the territory should be the thing that we are looking, the $30,000-some that we get from the federal government, when we consider that, for every resident who is here, we have to still provide education and sometimes housing, healthcare services. It's not that we get the free money; we get the money to be commensurate with the programs and services that we need to provide. I...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Finance as well as ECE do, right now, work together in order to promote the internship program that we have as well as to promote the summer student program that is right now open and to which I am hoping summer students are actively putting their names forward. For post-secondary students who are currently using SFA, they do receive that information about the internship programs and the summer student programs. Again, I'm happy to have any opportunity I have to promote that those programs are now open and taking names. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is work, obviously, happening with respect to royalties, more on the mineral resources sector. We're always looking for, obviously, opportunities to ensure that the systems and processes that are in place are working effectively. There's not an intention to review the Petroleum Resources Act again. I recognize that there've been some comments from committee at the end of the 18th Assembly about other improvements that might be available. Again, I'm somewhat in a situation of saying: there's no planned review of the act at this moment. There is work happening with respect to royalties...
