Deputy Premier Minister of Finance Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation Minister Responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy and Supply Chains
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, Minister 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. Mr. Speaker, back in April, the Legislative Assembly played host to youth from across the Northwest Territories for our annual Youth Parliament, something I look forward to every year as we get to hear voices from youth and to hear what they feel is important to the next generation.
The following words in my Member's statement today are those that were written and read in this Legislature by Kagen Ball who represented Yellowknife South as the Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about plans for the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The...
Thank you, Mr. Chair, my apologies. I think I just wasn't fast enough getting my hand up. Mr. Chair, just a very brief comment. Certainly, I know I'll just say for my own departments, I did find the comments today very helpful and wanted to encourage, you know, a couple of examples, again, drawing only really from my own departments, but it was just to say when I have my other hat on and not as Member for Yellowknife South, but it is a sincere hope that the business plans can be used in the main estimates reviews that we're about to go through. Having fouryear business plans was something new...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly one of the questions that is part of this review, is what kinds of different governance models we might have for MTS. Not that long ago, MTS was privately owned, and it went into receivership. And when it went into receivership, all of the communities that depend on the resupply were put at risk and at that point is when the government decided to step in. From that point forward, I'm not sure it has ever turned a profit. So if somebody out there wants to take it off our hands, that might be very good news. My concern becomes resupply, to...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review itself at this point, which is quite close to being completed, doesn't consider, to my knowledge, whether or not to split the operations up, but really, rather, to look at what the different types of models there might be for the operations as a whole. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: 20242025 Corporate Plan for the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process of the review did send out an invitation, I believe at the end of last year, to communities who rely on MTS so that they had the opportunity to participate. I don't have details in front of me confirming which communities did or did not. I know that some did, but I don't know that all responded to that inquiry to participate. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try not to go on for 35 minutes again, Mr. Speaker, with respect to the budget. But on a high level, first of all, if the government has the fiscal capacity to invest in the Northwest Territories and in the people and the residents of the Northwest Territories over the long term in a sustainable way, then we can continue to provide all of the programs and services. We are running up ourselves right now against a situation where we don't have that fiscal capacity year over year and that one bad fire season can wipe us out with nothing left to show for it and nothing...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I had an expectation, given the Member's statement, that this was going to come up today and so I've already been engaging with the department about what the latest is, which is why I've assured that we'll be participating on a national level. But I can also say that in these short time since the Member's statement, I have actually had residents reach out to me and point out that, in their view, having an Escooter might be more safe to be able to be on bike lanes and to be able to use Escooters on the bike lane roadway as compared to relying on large...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 15)
Mr. Speaker, with this first budget of the 20th Legislative Assembly, we are changing how we deliver on priorities in a way that is realistic, responsible, and always with an eye on being financially ready for whatever the future might bring.
In February, we released a fiscal strategy for this government to help restore longterm stability in our budgets. This first budget is step one in the drive for fiscal improvement. What’s new in 20242025 are a series of simple but measurable changes to ensure solid fiscal fundamentals today, while we help the Northwest Territories build for the future...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the air barge offers that are out there. Again, it is a private company that is offering those services. So where and how exactly that might fit into a government communication, I want to be just a bit cautious on. That said, I know the MLA's office and my office worked together this past winter when we were adjusting the winter road season as well as when we were adjusting to fly fuel into some communities when there were some shortages owing to last year's challenges. So both of those occasions, those types of pathways actually worked very...
