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, at this time, to my knowledge, there is no equivalent legislation in the Northwest Territories akin to the Clare's Law system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, I don't necessarily take the view that the appeals process, the number of appeals nor the success of appeals, necessarily gives us a lot of clear information that I can then apply to the staffing process itself. Mr. Speaker, I spent many years working in the criminal justice system where there were often appeals, and they were not always very successful. And it doesn't necessarily tie back to what's happening in the appeal court represents what should be happening at the front end. I don't know that it's much different here. What's happening at the...
Mr. Speaker, there's no place for retaliation in the human resources processes of the in the Government of the Northwest Territories. I believe that my office is very accessible, and I hope that it is. I've had many MLAs reach out to me and individuals who often felt that they wanted to raise a concern that they couldn't raise somewhere else. I hope that that continues. There is no place for retaliation. There's no place for that kind of favoritism. And if there's an opportunity to speak to someone to work through something to identify an issue to confirm if there's been something that's not...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the complete history of all hiring. I can say in 20172018, and I suspect the Member has this information already, as it went through to the last committee review. But that it was at around 1 percent and that 20182019, again, that it was five of 71 where the appeals were upheld. As far whether those individuals go on to get employment or choose to get employment or choose to seek further employment with the government, I can't say. That's not necessarily a stat that would even be possible to garner, again not knowing whether or not the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, an unsuccessful candidate eligible for appeal is able would be provided with the staffing appeals information guide, the staffing appeals brochure, and the staffing appeals application. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to note while I wasn't here back in 2018, at the time then standing committee had provided some recommendations to the Department of Finance to improve those materials, and I understand in some inquiries here that indeed some materials have been made more plain language and there has been an effort to at least to improve the nature of the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure that that type of legislation would necessarily fall under ITI.
The idea of having some sort of registered the idea of having some sort of public awareness, I see certainly no harm from that from the perspective of the as the ITI minister. In my view, Mr. Speaker, it would be beneficial for everyone in the industry to know of the work that is going on, to know of the extent of the efforts by officials, as well as by my office, to meet across the board with different industries, different stakeholders, individual businesses, all the different...
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for the Sahtu, that Bill 35, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022, be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for the operations expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 20212022 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to say this again very clearly on behalf of my own responsibility in the areas of the department that any statement about the government's position on land withdrawals on anything that is multidepartmental, that doesn't come from a single official like this. It has to be multidepartmental. It has to be wholeofgovernment. So, yes, this is, again, minutes which is reflective of the ITI department's staff that were attending minutes. And I, again, went back to them to say let's be very clear that when we attend these meetings, we don't we have to...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: "InterActivity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the period of April 1st to March 31st, 2021;" "Project Charter for GNWTChamber of Mines COVID Recovery Working Group;" and "Funding Support for Airlines." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that as a confirmed. I expect it is likely a Yellowknife position, Mr. Speaker, although, again, I'm not entirely certain. It is joining in the sense of being a coordinator position and one that certainly will have to work interdepartmentally with a lot of departments and will certainly be expected to be coordinating work across the regions. Again, I'll have to confirm but that's the expectation I have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
