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 11)

Madam Chair, we will continue to comply with the agreement that established the Heritage Fund and that establishes the contribution levels. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think our total debt servicing payments, that includes both interest and principal, is $33 million. That is maybe not entirely the breakdown that the Member is looking for, but that at least now is giving some collected number. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This policy has been subject to two reviews over the past 20-some years, and what I would suggest and commit to do is to engage with the appropriate committee in a technical briefing on this, so that we can start to have a dialogue on the work that has been done on the policy and on its contents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. I've also never had a government job until now, and my process was a bit unique. Perhaps this a conversation I can have with the Member not in this forum. I don't have hiring information in front of me; I only have the budgeting main estimates in front of me. It will depend on each job. Technical jobs will have very different hiring processes than a less technical job; there may well be exams for certain technical requirements, may well be essays, language testing, et cetera. So, it will vary quite a bit. I expect there may be some specific contests that the Member is...

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

Madam Chair, thank you. There was actually a request for qualifications process that was under way earlier in the 2019 year. That process is complete. The next stage was for an actual request for proposals for the prospective retailers, and it's that second stage that has been delayed that was supposed to be out this January. That has been delayed somewhat. We are at stage 2. There have already been some anticipated retailers who met the qualifications, and they're now being invited back to bid on the next stage as soon as that is available. As I have said, again, I am alive to the fact that...

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

Madam Chair, I am informed that, in 2019-2020, we had roughly 75 appeals in total, but I can't say what the total percentage that is as compared to total applications. I will commit to getting that number for the Member. Thank you.

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

Madam Chair, there is a detailed policy, and it is a complex process, one that I have been familiarizing myself with, but in the interest of everyone's time, I will ask the deputy minister to provide some further detail. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have looked at their limits, but I don't know how close they are. I don't know what their internal fiscal planning might be. I am not basing our planning on the planning of the two neighbouring territories. Although we remain in contact, certainly, with our territorial neighbours, the North as a whole now has the Arctic Policy Framework to work from. There are some shared goals within that and some shared challenges within that. While we are all working as neighbours, I also am not going to be constrained, necessarily, by what they may or may not be doing with the...

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

Madam Chair, to my knowledge, that kind of interview has not been conducted. Again, I have heard this issue raised now by Members on more than one occasion, so it is clear that we will have to provide, and as I've said, I will commit to providing some more transparency about the process, the considerations that go into the payment of bonuses, and how it's done. Again, I certainly can assure the Members, at least for this point, that it's not done by way of taking funds out from other programs. It's meant to be funded internally, and there are caps on the total amount that is able to be spent...

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is a topic of conversation that came up at the Ministers' meeting for Ministers of Finance, so again, as I alluded to in my first answer, some of these challenges are being faced by other jurisdictions, other provinces and territories. So, to that end, it is a conversation that's being had. One of the examples for it being for the regulated cannabis, some of the regulations require packaging and labelling that is, no doubt, of a stricter standard than what the black market would be. Again, there are some challenges being faced, but there are some jurisdictions that...