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 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so again, this is a program that was cost shared with the federal government, and it was part of funding that was being delivered through COVID19 and the pandemic when airline services across the country were facing fairly dire straits, when there was the sort of significant and immediate shut downs of airline services and impacts to them.

The portion that we received was to help maintain air service costs across the Northwest Territories. The federal government wasn't, you know, supporting which you know, based on where ownership might be. They were...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So Madam Chair, this year we had set aside not set aside but had created a supplementary reserve of $35 million. We are down to 10.754 after this.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we don't have substantiation of amounts in time for the spring session. I don't know that it was ever anticipated that we would have had the kind of substantiation necessary to make it into the spring session. You might recall that last year with the floods, a special warrant was done and had it brought in for fall. So, you know, I certainly don't want residents to think that simply because of the timing of session that funding won't be available. The Disaster Assistance Policy was updated such that the cap is now at $240,000, and that doesn't change based...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's Action 1.1 of the framework where it speaks to the importance of the job descriptions and, specifically, that all departments and agencies are now expected to conduct a detailed review of all job descriptions specifically with keeping in mind systemic barriers that may exist. And the point is to precisely do that, to remove those systemic barriers.

Every department and agency is responsible for their job descriptions. They certainly can seek strategic advice from human resources. But that is the individual requirements for each department, knowing...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so there was no extra money remaining in this particular line item. There is a surplus amount in the Regional Air Transportation Initiative, or RATI agreement, which is managed under Infrastructure and which I think we'll come to shortly.

These funds are specifically were negotiated with the Department of Transportation Canada really out of COVID relief. And, yes, as I say, there was nothing that wasn't spent in what we had available.

Madam Chair, I think there was another question in there, and I apologize, I forgot what it was.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it does require a regulatory change and so that is being worked on at present. And we are expecting that those regulations should be implemented by August the 1st. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, at this point, having made it into the supplementary appropriation, this is really just a very initial amount. And at this point, my understanding is that the assessors of course still have to do their work in order to ascertain exactly what the damages will be and then the full damage compensation process can begin under the Disaster Assistance Policy.

You know, and again for whatever it's worth in this place, Madam Chair, I know the Minister has asked all of us to emphasize the importance of folks registering, both businesses and residential individuals...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly anyone that is involved in hiring does have opportunity to access training through the Department of Finance. There are information packages online that can describe some of this, and the Department of Finance is often, if not always, involved during a recruitment and retention process so that they can also provide some strategic advice on how to do the evaluation equivalencies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So Madam Chair, these funds, and I take note, and I appreciate the comment here, that these are programs that really one of the reasons I think that they were chosen or targeted is that they are funds that people can apply to so that they are funds that then are the dollars go out to the communities or to individuals who can apply to the funds. So rather than relying on what is, frankly, often already stretched to capacity to deliver further capital planning programs from within GNWT departments, and particularly and including Housing, here individuals who would like...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Yes, please, Madam Chair.