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 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, there of course is the GNWT's vaccination policy but then there are also some employees who, because of the existence of federal policies either in the places where they need to attend, such as an RCMP detachment, or because of the concern around travel, they would have been doubly impacted because of their job descriptions on on those policies. And the federal government had put in place an exemption initially to January 31st, and it was our exemption that or our understanding that that at that point, people who were subject to needing to travel...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a lot of discussion back and forth firstly around the design of the labour market supplement in which case some of the requests that were made by the union were, indeed, incorporated into that policy to better reflect some of their suggestions. Then when it came time to apply the policy on the first occasion where the Department of Health and Social Services had brought forward their suggestion, it you know, again, there was further discussions. There were requests to expand in a way that did not, in our view, meet the conditions of the policy...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the union was engaged, I believe, back in the fall I believe in September, in fact, with respect to this labour market supplement in terms of its design, and then there was a process of going through to determine which positions to which this the supplement policy would properly apply.

But, Mr. Speaker, the health recruitment unit that now exists, and was developed both by Department of Finance and Health and Social Services, that's something that's been in the works obviously in response to the fact that there's been challenges in our healthcare and this...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has a mandate to advance the knowledge economy in the Northwest Territories. In doing this, we have engaged with residents, and they have told us that the knowledge economy needs to be grounded in innovation. Guided by input from residents, we are working to expand both our understanding of innovation and the scope of action in this area. We will focus on an innovation action plan to facilitate growth, create opportunity, and diversify our economy. It is a new way of thinking, empowered and driven by new technologies merging with traditional practices.

While our vision of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, Mr. Chair, the construction is as I believe, Mr. Chair, would all be underway, is underway, and is expected, indeed, to be completed by the fall of this year. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I couldn't agree more, and there is actually some exciting work happening in the space right now specifically with respect to the organization up in Inuvik and looking at whether or not they would be in a position to actually coordinate and provide or sorry, the resource so that all the smaller organizations, the smaller makerspaces can utilize their experience and put their experience to use, also looking at different programs to to have business mentorship pilots underway and that is that pilot is going to be starting this fiscal year. And looking at well...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table the following document: What We Heard Report Qatalyst Research Group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I think folks are generally aware, we are anticipating that there will be some changes to the overall restrictions and approach to COVID19 under the chief public health officer chief public health office and the associated orders as of April 1st. Mr. Speaker, when that occurs we certainly will be reviewing revising and updating our own policy accordingly. It's always preferable, Mr. Speaker, in my view to communicate directly with employees first and not necessarily to make statements here in the House that affect them, but I would say that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the Government of the Northwest Territories vaccine policies were initially being developed, this was back in August, and if I recall correctly it was actually before the time that we had heard what the final federal policies might be, we were doing our best to develop our policy for the needs of our communities, having heard from Indigenous governments and communities here in the North and being aware of the vulnerable population we have in the North and seeing the evolution of COVID19 to that point. And around that time, Mr. Speaker, other...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 109)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a challenge, Mr. Speaker, that I hear about actually wearing my ITI hat as much as Finance in terms of an impact on labour market shortages in a variety of areas and particularly in the private sector as well. So certainly I'm very live to it.

With respect to childcare, obviously I'll turn it to my colleague at ECE and the news that's being announced around a movement towards $10 a day childcare. But back to more generally with respect to housing, again that is a wholeofgovernment problem and a wholeofgovernment challenge as it is a wholeofterritory challenge. So...