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 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those are two separate questions. Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is one of the core and founding things that every government in this country right now needs to be paying attention to and acting upon. And I firmly and personally believe very much in what is spoken of the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Speaking separately about the work of the Department of human resources and the hiring practices of human resources, again, there's quite a lot that's going on to improve what we have in human resources here in...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question began with a discussion of outofYellowknife hire. So just to give some sense, about ten days ago before the rally, the numbers, we were already at 71 regional hires, and that's hires I think not pending as compared to 2019 when we were at 80. So, again, we're not tracking too badly just yet. And, again, the numbers have, indeed, gone up even in just the last ten days.

As for entirely revamping the summer student program and modifying substantially how we will fund it, I'm certainly not in a position to give a firm yes on that standing in the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, Mr. Speaker, there's been an effort being made to keep numbers updated. Indeed, it's been a bit of a rally of late. So I am pleased to say that the numbers are improving. We're still a little bit behind where we were in 2019. I won't use 2020 as a comparator given what was going on a year ago with COVID.

But with respect to the 2019 comparison, Mr. Speaker, we're actually pretty close right now, whereas in at this time in 2019, we had approximately 247, and if we include the pending hires, we're only at 245, if I'm reading correctly on my numbers. So we're not...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the appeal process provides an opportunity for someone who's an unsuccessful candidate to review a procedural error. So, in other words, that there was something that was not applied correctly in terms of applying with certain rules, certain element of The Collective Agreement, the Affirmative Action Policy. It's not a doover on an application, and it's not an opportunity to question a job description or to question the qualifications or equivalencies, which, again, Mr. Speaker, those qualifications and equivalencies are set up before the screening gets...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, human resources have representatives who act as facilitators on hiring committees with whatever department they might be working with. The point of doing that, the point of having human resources present, is, in fact, to ensure, again, that the hiring process remains fair, follows all of the regulations, rules, The Collective Agreement, policy, et cetera. Selection committee members then, of course, if they are in a conflict, are to remove themselves. If there's any relationship to a candidate or any potential for bias, they are not to take part in that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents: Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022; and Supplementary Estimates (Operation Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 75)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, June 1st, 2021, I will move the Bill 32, an act to amend the Northern Employees Benefits Services Pension Plan Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 75)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Office of the Regulator for Oil and Gas Operations 20202021 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 74)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following six documents entitled FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 49419(2) Economic Recovery; FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 50519(2) Home Insurance; FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 59219(2) Development of the Northwest Territories Remediation Economy; FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 61619(2) Government of the Northwest Territories Open Government Portal; FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 67119(2) Public Services Supporting Northern Businesses; and FollowUp Letter for Oral Question 69919(2) Northern Students Recruitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 74)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this involves more than one department, including the Department of Finance, and my primary message, Mr. Speaker, please, if anyone out there has a specific example of red tape that is impacting on a small or medium sized business, please, please send that example to redtape@gov.nt.ca, and because, shockingly, we haven't received as many responses as we would have hoped.

So while the red tape committee is focused on, again, small, mediumsized businesses, you know, at this point, I would say just send the examples that you have, because I hear...