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

Board of Management
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Office
(867) 767-9143
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
Mobile
867-445-7437
Minister
Email
Email

Statements in Debates

Question 1479-19(2): Population Growth
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 151)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly am also following the statistics that we get quite regularly on updates about population change. Mr. Speaker, I just want to note one interesting fact is we've actually seen an increase in international net migration into the territory. The birth rate, as I think the that was reported yesterday tends to remain fairly stable. So there are some interesting things to draw, and I do want to assure folks we certainly do keep an eye on that as well. As far as what we're doing to what we're doing to keep people aware of what's happening and why this...

Committee Motion 404-19(2): Committee Report 48-19(2): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Bill 68: An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act –Response to Recommendations, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 151)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, on your left is Kelly Bluck who is director of fiscal policy. And on your right is Bill MacKay, the deputy minister of finance. Thank you.

Minister’s Statement 342-19(2): Employee Engagement and Satisfaction
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 151)

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories, like many other public and private sector employers in Canada, wants to ensure that its employees enjoy a high level of engagement and satisfaction in their work. However, decreases in employee morale are being experienced across Canada in the public sector, and the Northwest Territories is no exception. The results of our own Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey, released last year, identified some areas for improvement, including notable disparities in scores between departments and agencies. In response to this, the Department...

Committee Motion 383-19(2): Committee Report 43-19(2): Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Bill 63: An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act – Indigenous Languages Legislative Changes, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. It was the Ledcor team cohort that was that is the other party. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 385-19(2): Concurrence Motion – Tabled Document 881-19(2): Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2022-2023, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this is a projected shortfall in the chemotherapy program that we have here at Stanton Hospital, and it's based on the actuals that we ran as of October and then extrapolated that to the end of this fiscal year. So based on where the program was at as of October 21st, it was expected that there would be this shortfall. The drug cost, I mean, it's twofold. It's partly the cost of the drugs and also the amount of usage by clients, by patients. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Question 1470-19(2): Review of Fiscal Responsibility Policy
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had the pleasure of overseeing a number of different policies that have been reviewed and revised in the life of this Assembly. And I've actually had the opportunity to go back and say, you know, when do we go out and engage public and when do we take different types of approaches? And, Mr. Speaker, it depends upon the impact of the policy on members of the public. The greater the impact, the greater the anticipated interests, such as in the naming of a building which may well involve wanting to name it after an individual or after a particular...

Committee Motion 383-19(2): Committee Report 43-19(2): Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Bill 63: An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act – Indigenous Languages Legislative Changes, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have asked the very same question actually not so much of the folks of Finance but more from the folks at ITI, and I know that there is some effort underway to try and do a bit of parallel work but the online map staking program development depends very much on the regulations that it is then going to be applying. So what I understand the effort is right now is to try to put some work in parallel so that we're not entirely waiting for the final version of every regulation to be fully concluded with the Mineral Resources Act project before beginning the...

Committee Motion 386-19(2): Concurrence Motion – Tabled Document 882-19(2): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2022-2023, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So there is $40,310,000 in federal or other revenue offsets. And just on the same vein, Madam Chair, in terms of money that is being offset to either prior or future fiscal years, there's $4.886 million. Thank you.

Committee Motion 383-19(2): Committee Report 43-19(2): Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Bill 63: An Act to Amend the Official Languages Act – Indigenous Languages Legislative Changes, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Madam Chair, I know there is a reserve for supplementary operations, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 385-19(2): Concurrence Motion – Tabled Document 881-19(2): Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2022-2023, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So this was concluded as part of negotiation with the territorial medical association and resulted in some small retroactive amount, but also there's recruitment bonuses and there's an amount that is resulting from changes to the locum contract rates, and I'm certainly happy to provide some further breakdown of each of those. Well, $1.2 million to the contracts for physicians, standard physician contract rate, as well as $3.4 million just over in recruitment initiatives, and $3.1 million for locums, and then just over $700,000 is for retroactive amounts, again related...