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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Statements in Debates

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

Yes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, there is not one single reason, but there are a number of reasons. I would certainly say I would like to have a better way of tracking. I would like to ensure we can track exactly those reasons and see what trends there are. Without knowing exactly how we would do that, I would like to make a sort of tentative commitment that we'll be doing that kind of tracking. Again, in this particular case, it was as bad as it was largely because of these particular projects. Quite a large number of large projects all came available for funding all at the same time, which did...

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

Madam Chair, I am confident that the Minister of Health and Social Services has the answer.

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

I had the opportunity to speak with our MP just recently. He certainly is a proponent of the First Nations Policing Program, as is the Department of Justice and as the Department of Justice has been for some 10 years. The First Nations Policing Program is a cost-shared program. It is a cost-share that gives us a much better opportunity for return. That is why we don't have to put as much in as compared to the territorial policing agreement, which is a 70-30 agreement, so it's a much higher cost to the GNWT. I would more than happily split the costs with the federal government along the lines...

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

I took that as a comment, Madam Chair. Thank you.

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

Madam Chair, I am going to add that to the commitment of information that we are going to get for the Member who has this interest in fishing.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 28)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 196-19(2): Economic Cost and Support for Business." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 28)

There is a steering committee that has been formed, as well, which has led to the ISSS being developed. It is co-chaired by the chief information officer, whose position resides within Finance, as well as executive, the EIA department deputy secretary. While I appreciate that there are a variety of possible views on what the correct process or best process might be, what I would commit to is to bringing forward some reports through to the Member and, if interested, then to a relevant committee about what process is underway, what process has been chosen, and why, and certainly, to take back...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 28)

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 28)

Thank you, Madam Chair. A few comments. I meant what I said earlier, some time ago now, in my first budget speech. A budget is a collective effort and a collaborative approach will be the best way to build a financial plan for this fiscal year and beyond. Through this budget session, we have worked with Regular Members to evaluate our priorities with the result that we are committing $1.9 million in additional investments to round out the 2020-2021 Budget. These additional investments include the following:

$600,000 to support the revitalization of Indigenous languages. We will contribute $150...