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.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't see behind me, but I do believe that Mike and Shanli Carlson are still here, Mr. Speaker. They certainly were here in the House, and I am very proud to recognize them, particularly today, as residents of Yellowknife South. Miss Shanli is an absolute joy, and I am very pleased to have her around my house. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is not a decision that I make by myself on this one. The Affirmative Action Policy, although a policy, is one that belongs to all the Cabinet. And as with almost everything else it seems in people's lives over the last few weeks, there's been a number of disruptions over this wildfire season and summer. So there is still a little bit of time left in the Assembly, Mr. Speaker. It is a Cabinet's policy. A lot of work has gone into it. And at this point, I can't speak for it beyond that other than to say a lot of work has gone into it, and we will certainly...
Mr. Speaker, the regulations for the Northwest Territories Mineral Resources Act define the first madeintheNorthwest Territories approach to governing mineral development. That is not the only thing that makes them historic. They are the first legal instrument to be developed in their entirety under the legislative development protocol set out by the Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resource Management.
Later this afternoon, I will be tabling a report highlighting the status and success of the Intergovernmental Council’s collaborative process. This collaboration...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the language around what the deadline and the reporting would be was crafted jointly. I'm not sure if perhaps legislative counsel wants to speak more to that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is really one of the core elements of government renewal and the shift in thinking around this is that every department has to be thinking about its evaluative process. We have, Mr. Speaker, when government renewal was coming out, we put in place a requirement of program evaluation policy requiring that any programs over $2 million, we need to have a logic model and performance tracking indicators. Mr. Speaker, a lot of programs did not. A lot of departments struggled with that. The majority of the capacity for evaluation resides in the Department of...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that's the regional COLO payments. Madam Chair, I didn't bring those details. That has been already before the House. So I certainly can provide an update to Members, but I don't know that we have that here in front of us. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that all of the phase 1 work, including up to and including the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, have all had their inventories completed as of July of this year. That was the last group to make their way through. That work is all done now. And phase 2 is also well underway.
Since November of last year, we kicked off with Housing Northwest Territories, Department of Finance, and Department of Education, Culture and Employment. They are the first ones to see themselves having their programs select programs...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I certainly have asked that the idea put forward that there be some further effort from one of our counterparts in the federal government responsible for this that they be in a position to provide more funding, that they recognize the burden they've put on small communities, and recognize the burden they've put on small Indigenous and remote communities. So let me see certainly if I can provide some further information on their behalf. It's certainly my efforts to distinguish the Government of the Northwest Territories from the choices made in Ottawa, I...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm quite pleased to get that question. I can say a couple of things quickly, mindful of time, although I would be happy to go on longer if I had more time.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, the MIP, or the Mineral Incentive Program funding, this is the amount of funding that is provided to exploration projects of all different sorts. And out of the almost $1.5 million disbursed thus far, Mr. Speaker, over $1.2 million of it went to critical minerals and metals projects, including a good proportion for lithium projects. So there's that.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, again, the federal government changed the tax rates on April 1st of this year and when there's the ability to make the calculation of the amounts for the year, then we will do that and be able to do that. The federal government does provide the rebates on a quarterly basis. Thank you, Madam Chair.
