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 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the changes that the federal government made was to remove the ability for point of sale rebates. We were not allowed to affect anything that would negate the carbon signal is what it is. So, essentially, they no longer want it to be a hidden thing. They want everyone to know exactly how much the carbon tax is. In theory, I believe, again, not wanting to certainly speak for the feds, but is the idea that this then makes us all more aware of how much fuel you're using. It doesn't do much good when you don't have any other choice of what you can use other than fuel...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 101, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 20232024, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Member wanted me to run down this clock for 35 minutes by describing all the efforts that we've gone into, I'm certainly happy to do that. I won't, Mr. Speaker, though it is tempting.

Mr. Speaker, there was an extraordinary effort by a number of Members of Cabinet, and a number of Members of Cabinets across this country, asking the federal government to make changes to their policy not the least of which would be to allow heating fuel to continue to be exempted for residential homes, which would make such a difference in northern, rural, and remote...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 101, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 20232024, be read for the second time.

This bill sets out limits on supplementary amounts that may be borrowed by the Commissioner on behalf of the government and authorizes the making of disbursements to pay the principal of supplementary amounts borrowed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Cracking 100, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 101, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures and Borrowing Authorization), No. 3, 20232024, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak to an aspect of the motion I haven't heard as much attention on, and so I wanted to take this opportunity. It comes at page 11 of the or I'm sorry, at page 11 of the Integrity Commissioner's decision. And he says, In reaching this determination, I have considered Ms. Nokleby's explanation that she did not leave Yellowknife after the YKDFN made it clear that she was not an essential worker because she was in, quote, emotional tailspin.

He continues on to say, The whole situation was no doubt stressful, as it was for everyone who evacuated...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I do I guess maybe this is where we will disagree. So there was at one time an estimate of a billion dollars. There's been inflation. There's been the passage of time. There's costs of fuel. So it is pretty easy to see that we are looking into the stage of being well past the billion-dollar mark. And as I've said, there's still one critical business decision to be made by potential steering committee meeting group as to the routing, and that will impact the costs. So I'm not in a position to say on my own which of those two choices it will be...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I think I have said before, we do have a final business case. The final business case does go to our steering committee first. This is the Indigenous government partners who are members of that watershed of the Taltson region who are still choosing to participate in the steering committee process. Mr. Speaker, so that work has been done. It is a lengthy, complex, and detailed. When while we may be able to share documents like that through the confidential processes of the House, I will not be in a position to put those numbers out forward on the floor of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that does mean that we are getting a new definition, but sometimes what's old is new again. And so, really, what has happened, and what the recommendation of the panel was, is to go back to an earlier form of definition. So that definition will consider well, and it has to adjust the BIP to the definition of a northerner, what defines someone who's a northern individual. And it's meant now to be for six months of residency, not 12, which is really looking at a way of increasing people moving to the North and opening businesses. We had some instances that came in...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aviation gasoline and jet fuel is exempted still for now. Who knows what the feds might do next? But it is exempted for now. But most certainly diesel, gasoline that powers all the trucks that carry a lot of our cargo, that carry the other fuel to heat the homes, that power the barges that bring our much of our resupply to communities, those fuels are under the carbon tax.

Mr. Speaker, I've said this before, that the federal government does go to international conferences, acknowledges the fact that other developing countries, developed without access to...