Member Yellowknife South

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.
 

Committees

Caroline Wawzonek
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is quite correct. The current Liquor Act, which is still the old Liquor Act that we're operating under, has some pretty limited mechanisms and actually is quite out of date. So in the last Assembly, we were very pleased to see a change to the liquor legislation, modernizing it. Still need to get those regulations put in place. So this is, in some ways, the right time to be asking what those regulations might contain because we are at the point of being able to put those regulations together in a way that can, again, respect the different social...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost we are working very closely with Indigenous governments on any routing decisions that might someday be made in the future, including the Tlicho government who did trigger the request for the regional strategic environmental assessment. At this point, we're at a stage going out this summer to do some field work analysis, some early field work analysis but, again, Mr. Speaker, I do want to emphasize no final decisions on routing are going to be made without Indigenous consultation, and the GNWT does continue to participate in the regional...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories does participate. We are a participant in the process. I happen to have been in obviously in the past government, and so saw as that work was getting underway and was present at bilateral discussions with the Tlicho government when the two projects were discussed and where the desire to move forward with both was discussed. So as a partner, we can certainly engage with the others involved and see if there's a way to ensure as partners, as one participant, but just to ensure that everyone knows that there's these...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do, as of December, have a type A land use permit that was issued to us, and with that's just going as far as going up to Lockhart Lake. Now with that, it is hoped that we could spend this summer beginning some field work assessments, and again ultimately had been hoping that more would be happening with the regional strategic environmental assessment. I can say, Mr. Speaker, we have funding right now, federal funding, that goes until 2028. So that puts a bit of a time crunch on us to advance what has been often spoke of as one of the critical...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 13)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Northwest Territories Carbon Tax Report 20222023; and, Followup Letter for Oral Question 4520(1): Expansion of Snare Hydro System to Tlicho Communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, it's certainly again it's certainly, I think, our hope, my hope, you know shared hope on this end, that that's not going to be the case. As I indicated, we had been initially hoping that the strategic the regional strategic environmental assessment would get moving a little faster than it has. Had that been the case, the timing of that work would well would have contributed well to the timing that we were expecting in advance of the 2028 end of funding for us. So, again, it's been a couple of years. We've had a lot of progress over on the RSEA front...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm certain I can provide some summary. I only want to be conscious that I'm not sharing DND information that is not mine to share, but can definitely provide more information about what kind of sale's pitch we're giving. And, again, happy to have more attention on it. I certainly would want to make it very plain and very clear that I share the interest, and I share the enthusiasm. We want to see that investment here. We think the Northwest Territories is the right place for it. And so I'll make sure and get something that we can all share and get behind...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ultimately a decision about where a national defence base or a national defence expansion would take place is the national department of defence decision. Our purpose and our goal is to ensure that wherever that base is that it's in the Northwest Territories. No disrespect to our colleagues on either side, but we want it to be in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 12)

I hope I'm reading the right thing, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 6, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 20232024, be read for a second  Mr. Speaker, I'm reading the wrong  let me try this again I think.

I'm on third reading. Unless somebody else thought I was on second reading or third reading  okay, let me start this all again. Nothing has happened. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 6, Supplementary Appropriations Act (Operations...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I told my kids that I wanted to use Pink Shirt Day as an opportunity to say something at the Assembly about bullying, and I asked them what they thought I should say.

My 12yearold said, You need to catch bullying quickly. You can't let the situation repeat itself. It gets harder to stop the longer the behaviours continue. You cannot let it be normalized. You cannot let it be routine. Disrespect should never be routine. She is right. It gets easier to ignore when a behaviour becomes normal. And so days of recognition like Pink Shirt Day are good occasions for...