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 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, so De Beers Canada was required by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to do a fish habitat compensation, and that was just part of the regulatory process that they went through. They worked with, I gather, multiple departments of the GNWT in order to identify an appropriate site where they could maximize the usage of that perspective funding for a project that was in need here for the Northwest Territories, and they identified that the Redknife River Bridge, which was built back in 1971, was way beyond its design life and was not providing adequate fish...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have Mr. Jim Martin, the vicepresident of finance and infrastructure services for Housing Northwest Territories.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Mineral Resources Act - Regulation Development Status Report; 20222023 Annual Report Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation; and, 20222023 Interim Financial Statements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Canol Trail is another one that could frankly be a bit of a flagship or it should be a flagship, not a bit of, but should be a flagship in the Northwest Territories. It does have a lot of sections that were still under ownership by the federal government, and there's some concern around overtaking that without doing the kind of proper due diligence to ensure that there's not an excessive amount of remediation that is required. So these ENR is the department that would be the lead in terms of that discussion with the federal government. This capital...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So if I recall, there are estimates and ranges built in to the business case that depend upon what the market may be doing at any one time. I don't, in front of me, have whether it's above or below 11 cents.

Madam Chair, if I might just and I am conscious of time, but if I might just venture, I think if the MOU and steering committee partners can make a decision on the routing and then be able to say here is the project. The challenge we are in is we don't quite have the project and that's where the planning of the money that's being requested is to get to that point...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Not strictly in my capital books but I can say that my understanding last I heard was that the boat in question, or whatever it is in question, had, in fact, been ticketed and that, you know, obviously, enforcement measures do need to then be taken and those enforcement measures can be, I believe, up to and including removing forcibly. That is some crossjurisdictional but I can follow up again with the Member directly. That certainly is not lost on me the challenges that vessel was creating. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I now have the pleasure of introducing Gary Brennan. He is the assistant deputy minister for regional operations for infrastructure.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. This, I believe, arises because of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Communities fund, and that is where we have seen a significant increase in, first, the revised and then in the revised estimates for 20232024. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are protocols within a consensus government. One of them is that when we are releasing new information like this provided by government that it goes to one of the standing committees first. So until I can release it to standing committee, it's very difficult and would not be appropriate for me to stand in the House and make the announcement here. Otherwise, I would love to do it, Mr. Speaker, but I'm afraid the Members are going to simply have to look at their inbox and wait for the letter to come pursuant to the rules and the procedures that we all...