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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Minister
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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate having a sense of where some questions go because it gives a chance for those of us working multidepartmentally to have some conversations and thanks to the folks at Health and Social Services, I can note there are in fact five territorial family violence shelters across different regions of the Northwest Territories. And I'm also pleased to note that given that these are territorial resources, that travel can be provided for women and children who live in communities outside of one with a shelter and no one should ever think that not having a...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as of the moment  well, the arts program does work with partners across Canada. They are working also internationally at this point. There's been showcases of NWT arts products at the WAG, in Edmonton, and internationally at the British Museum. So there's quite a lot happening in the recent couple of years to try to promote and increase awareness of the incredible arts that we have here.

That said, the demographic information that we have is that at this time, a majority of the artwork is still being sold here within the Northwest Territories. I mean, I can...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

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.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

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...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

For sure. That it is actually a good example of where I think numbers identify an area of issue and an area of concern. We're able to come up with some faith and trust in the department to look at and say what can we do to address your concern, and then there was this discussion. So these are all good examples of how that process can and should work. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the disaster assistance committee is made up both of ADMs, who are largely based in Yellowknife, as well as regional presentation from all of the affected communities and regions. So although I do certainly appreciate the comment, and I recognize that.

With respect to whether or not there's an appeal community, or an appeal process, Madam Chair, I am not certain about that although there  typically with a system of this nature, when it's at an ADM or director level, it does have some final appeal to a Minister. I expect this is the same here. If I'm wrong, I...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, indeed, ITI has applied to Lands for as a reserve of the Con dock mine area and the purpose being to create a new boat launch and the associated docking facility mentioned with respect to the commercial fishing industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

Madam Chair, if I could direct this to the Minister of Health and Social Services, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

Yes, Madam Chair. I'm certainly somewhat Zoomed out myself. And I can say, you know, I do think, Madam Chair, that every department does still have a travel budget, and I appreciate the comments. There will be some business, I suspect FPTs, for example, the federal-provincial-territorial meetings that we often attend, where those may be slower to open up because there are so many different travel restrictions across Canada, whereas perhaps other areas of travel will be soon faster to open up. And I I can certainly say that I think every I think can probably safely speak for every colleague...