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
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Minister
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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a YK1 asset, as I understand, but obviously, they are in fairly close contact with the Minister of ECE. I don't think it's quite so simple of an answer as that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is an ongoing project to renovate the Stanton legacy building, and right now, there is a $9,782,000 carry-over that is being requested, because that is an amount that was cash flow last year that wasn't used up in that period. The Department of Health and Social Services is asking to carry it forward to continue the project that is under way. Right now, that is what I have in front of me. I don't have all of the project specifics in front of me, because that would be part of the capital planning project that would have been approved, as I have said, under the 18th...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 7, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2020-2021, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually had the opportunity to speak with Northwestel just today. There are quite a number of projects that I think they are looking to advance. There are projects that they are looking to advance on their own, and some that they are looking to partner with various levels of government on, so, while I can't sit here right now and promise that all of Tuktoyaktuk housing and facilities will be linked to high-speed fibre in the immediate future, I can certainly say that this project will get a long way in terms of figuring out exactly what is required. It would...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I am a bit conscious that the detailed specifics should be directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, but I think it is safe to say, really, something that is being experienced and seen across all of the infrastructure projects and a lot of the infrastructure projects that are coming through Finance right now are experiencing some delays as a result of COVID-19, whether it's because of procurement slowdowns, whether it's because of slowdowns on the private sector side, in terms of the ability to have uptake. That is not to say that projects...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would be more than happy to offer that explanation, but to be quite frank, I do not have that contract or those arrangements in front of me and was simply not anticipating to be defending the entire P3 arrangement around Stanton today. I will be more than happy to give that answer, but I think I can really just commit to getting that detail. I am not going to be in a position to answer that fulsomely today.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

The return to work site work plan was put out by the human resources division about, I want to say, a week ago, perhaps two weeks ago. It was circulated in the House. I believe it is actually posted on the website. I will double-check that the link is available and will certainly circulate that again. It is a phased approach. It is a phased approach that looks at ensuring those who are already back at work can continue to be at work, that the increase in the number of people who are able to return to work in a more formal capacity, and that, as the Emerging Wisely plan unfolds, that the GNWT...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Generally, I think the Member is accurately stating it. Just by way of a bit of a further example, the secure image management is quite specific to the DMV because it involves, as I said, facial recognition and the printing of actual licences that have people's photos on it. The Enterprise licensing and permitting system is intended to be the e-service delivery in order to access licensing and permitting across departments. It is really meant to be a direction in terms of getting us onto a single unified platform for all of the GNWT's general permitting and licensing...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Thank you, Madam Chair. When something is incomplete in the previous year, then it has to get carried over into this year in order to then be continued on with. Especially the Sissons school project, which is multi-year project, the funding that would be approved in one year still needs to get reapproved into subsequent years.

Again, I don't know exactly what stage the project is at, and if the Member wants a more specific answer, I can certainly turn this back to the Minister of education, but the overall school project is a multi-year project. For that reason, the funding will have to get...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)

Madam Chair, almost every Minister here is scrambling right now because almost everyone wants to add something. I'm hearing that there are a number of projects that are underway to support moving elders out of Yellowknife and back to their regions, that there are aging-in-place retrofits being looked at for the smaller centres across the Northwest Territories. I'm being reminded, also, that the committee will be seeing, hopefully, a draft of the 2021-2022 Capital Plan by July. Once they see that capital plan, there will be an opportunity for Members from across the Northwest Territories to...