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
Mobile
Minister
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

$6,061,850, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So it is it is as a result of an increased overall number of days in the facilities. And so in that sense, the amount of use that is being seen that's driving up an anticipated extra expense here. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, there is another agreement that provides for RCMP services in the Northwest Territories. The single biggest difference is the cost ratio is 70/30 in favour of GNWT paying 70 percent and Public Service Canada 30. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, back again beside me on my left is deputy minister Bill MacKay, and on my right deputy secretary to the financial management board Mr. Terence Courtoreille.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there's again, this portion is really an obligation under the collective agreement. Other companies and businesses, corporations, you know, the mineral resource sector, a lot of those companies, a whole host of companies in town, other levels of government, in general also provide benefits to their employees. The degree to which they're getting benefits, the type of benefits, I'm not privy to. Whether those individuals might have partial payment through public medical travel and then offset by others, again there's going to be some complex differences. But...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this stage, there's $3 million that's coming from CIRNAC to support phase one of this work. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Well, that's a dark note on which to end the evening, Mr. Chair. So we don't the supplementary reserve is a tool by which the budgeting process is meant to look at having some additional funding available for the emergent expenses. You know, more like the contracts that get signed off cycle and for which there may be a contribution component, you know, things that emerge, opportunities that come up where the department might need to, you know, expend funds beyond, you know, the deficit of the MTS for instance. It's really not meant as an emergency fund per se. So I'm conscious of the point...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm happy to commit and take that back to my colleague. The details of the agreement itself and whether or not it involves site C or the extent to which it does, I don't have that detail and I don't know that my team here does either. But I expect that the Minister responsible would probably be happy to follow up, and we can add that in our followup letters. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

So the total amount requested in this supplementary appropriation is $2.34 million for shortfalls here in terms of the staffing. It's yes, the projected that's the amount that we're requiring at this time. But the total anticipated cost for agency nurses this fiscal is $5.5 million. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 11)

It's not reflected in these numbers, which I think or it will be a number that we have to come up with going forward. But, again, this is the information I'm looking at, Mr. Chair, just to be clear, I just am not entirely sure that I'm explaining it very well, and I'd like to just make sure that I have that accurately. But there is a change that's coming on March 1st. Thank you.