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 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I have made a previous commitment in another forum to do a better job of reporting on that and to ensure that those reports are made in a timely fashion. Indeed, I also think that I may have made a commitment, at one point or another, to take the draft document before preparing the report to committee so that they can have some input on what that report is going to look like. I expect that commitment is going to be fulfilled very soon so that reporting can be done in a way that is transparent and is as useable and functional as possible. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. At the moment, projections are for the next two fiscal years; we would be within the borrowing limit, but it's the third year of this life of this government that the current projection is that we would be at risk of exceeding it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have the annual human resources report in front of me. Specific numbers are something that, I said earlier and I'll say it again, I'll certainly get the specific numbers of the total percent that were eligible to file appeals and some breakdowns in terms of what I may be able to provide additionally about the outcomes on appeals. I'm a bit challenged to describe the specifics of any appeal, because, obviously, the specifics of what makes for an appeal are the specifics of each appeal, but we may be able to put an aggregate together to describe, perhaps, the top...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Madam Chair, that's fine. I have no problem making that commitment. On the theme of there being some fees that are being paid for the management of the fund, I point out again that the fund is actually doing better as a result of that. So, it is my hope that that's going to be overall, that we will see a positive return on our investment for having sought those fees. Obviously, if that's not turning out to be the case, since that change is fairly new, then further change can be looked at. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Housing Corporation does go through the business planning process, and their documents are vetted by the relevant committee. Through that planning process, they will be subject to the four-year planning process that the Department of Finance is developing templates for right now, and that is how those values are tabulated, and then the money is run through the Department of Finance's budget. Ultimately, it will go through that same planning process and business planning process as every other department. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

We can make that commitment, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will ask the deputy minister to fill in those details, please. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I acknowledge and accept the Member's frustration that the workforce in the GNWT continues to not be as representative as we would all like it to be. I expect that is going to be something that I am tasked to accomplish in the next few years, to at least try to make some movement on that dial and to improve the percentages and the numbers to be more truly reflective of the population that we serve.

Madam Chair, the tools with which we will do that, and the way that we will accomplish that, simply is not something that I am prepared to speak to on the fly in this context...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Madam Chair, I don't have that specific detail in front of me, but I know there is an annual report that is tabled, and I expect that that information will be available at that time. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Madam Chair. The higher value in 2018-2019 was as a result, as I understand, of the contribution made to RCMP housing, and that program then sunsetted and is not currently included in the 2020-2021 Main Estimates. Thank you, Madam Chair.