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.
I can't say enough: This isn't simply a reduction exercise. By going about this in a way that is methodical and that relies on evaluation rather than just cherry-picking or targeting from somewhere within senior ranks of what programs or services we think might not provide value, that is not the way to make an evidence-based decision about good government value. That is exactly why we want to go department by department, why we want to actually look and do that inventory as to what is, in fact, being offered and then involve the frontline workers to ensure that we understand the true value...
Mr. Speaker, I actually love talking about government renewal, but I'll try not to take the full ten minutes. We're starting out right now with the Department of ECE and Department of Finance. The government renewal process takes two steps. I should start by mentioning that all departments have been involved quite extensively in terms of looking at government renewal and looking at the program evaluation process in understanding how it's going to unfold. This has certainly been a government-wide process, government-wide initiative, and one that I think has already been well-communicated within...
My own opinions on the matter really are not the answer. We conducted the budget dialogues this summer to have that kind of conversation with the residents of the Northwest Territories. As ITI Minister, I have an opportunity to speak with business representatives from across different organizations as groups, as well as directly with members of the business community. We are a small economy, and it's not new that we remain an economy that is not particularly diversified. It is one that does have a large public sector reliance. I don't expect that to necessarily change in the near future, but...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The BDIC is right now in the midst of a strategic planning process. They are halfway through. They've had their first meeting just before Christmas and are having a second one shortly. I know that their board is made up of business owners and business persons from across the Northwest Territories. I am sure they are looking at this. I have had conversations with their CEO who also assures me that this is something that is under consideration, whether or not to defer their loan payments further or how long to do so.
As to the interest rates or forgiveness of debts...
A consolidated list was provided back in August, and in fact, I believe it may have been tabled in this House, detailing the outstanding payments that were known at the time aside from royalties. Royalties are governed by a separate regulatory regime and are not made public independent of collective royalties. However, I can also update that, as of January, another list was sent, I believe, in this case, to committee, if not at least to the MLA directly, and it does detail property taxes, fuel taxes, various boiler registrations, some airport lease payments, mining survey costs, environmental...
To the extent that there may have been ongoing negotiations with the private parties or private entities, I am not privy, nor is the government privy, to their specific negotiations. I certainly can say that, with respect to the outstanding payments that the GNWT is owed, that those payments or any payments owing do have to be made in order for the matter to proceed. Indeed, that includes a full transfer of the securities.
Mr. Speaker, we are very alive to the fact that there is a number of NWT businesses which are owed money, of course, in this process. It is a process that is monitored by the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, there have been no concessions or debt write-offs. All outstanding payments are not being forgiven, and indeed, we continue to hold all of the securities as we did prior to the sale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
