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

Board of Management
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Office
(867) 767-9143
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
Mobile
867-445-7437
Minister
Email
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Minister of Health can speak to that one, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm quite confident Mr. Courtoreille knows the answer to that, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think that getting into exactly who was to blame is delving far too closely into what may well be subject to a settlement agreement signed with another party on behalf of  between the GNWT. So, again, I'm going to take pause on this one but that's not to say that there's not lessons to be learned from projects that run delays and that that opportunity isn't available to the GNWT, just that this might not be the shining moment where we can do that because we have signed an agreement that comes with  you know, an agreement with the other party to maintain...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Madam Chair, thank you. So there is a standing amount for deferred maintenance but, you know, a concern being raised on that regard, I would suggest perhaps a comment from the Minister of Infrastructure.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe that it is. I can say that they are expecting the completion of that project, again, this spring.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I do have a date in my head but I don't want to get it wrong. Let me turn it to Mr. Koe and see if he has that date in front of him, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would propose to send that over, I think, probably to Mr. Courtoreille to speak to.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

I'm not surprised that that's the question at all. I don't have the specifics here. I'm not sure if Mr. Courtoreille has it. If he doesn't, we'll commit to confirming if that is in fact the project that I'm thinking of. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so I am also very excited about a lot of these projects but I will say it's not a simple matter of purchasing software the way I might go down and get a new Microsoft Outlook or whatever other brand one might choose to use. These are projects that involve going back to individual departments, and often multiple departments, in order to determine the needs, in order to bring everything together in terms of responding to the various needs, the data needs, converting data. You know, I'm seeing that having, in many occasions as the Minister responsible, gone...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, there's certainly is a lot of work that's underway looking at broadly how the government manages carryovers and responds and reports on carryovers. So I can't say that I necessarily have a complete answer at this point. But, there are a few things in the works and perhaps I'll just pause. I'll turn it over to Mr. Koe, please, just to give an update as to what some of the most recent thinking is that we're at on that. Just knowing that, again, that some of that would have to, of course, come through  any final decisions would have to come through of...