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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Minister
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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, again, just subject to not going too far in the future in terms of procurement dollars, of the dollars that have not been yet put out for procurement, other than that responses will they can be certainly tabled in the House. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I have $194 million as being the total cost now including this. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 150)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking as a net, $1.553 million.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So it is an initiative that comes out from the department of human resources, so Finance, and obviously is a headquarters functions but then beyond that, this is, again, the eight positions that we were just describing here in the main estimates have locations beyond Yellowknife. There's human resource officer positions now being added to well, I'm going to get it wrong now. To Inuvik and Smith, with a view to being much more closely to where those positions would be required. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Mr. Speaker, on January 16th, the Government of the Northwest Territories launched a new open data portal to provide a single point of access for existing GNWT data resources. This portal represents a significant step forward in our commitment to transparency and open government and it will be a valuable resource for residents, businesses, researchers, and anyone else interested in the data and information that shapes our communities and our economy. The open data portal provides easy access to a wide range of data including information on demographics, economy, environment, health, and many...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, again, it's federal government rules that we're working within and, you know, I'd like to suggest it's we're basically putting up a shield to try to ensure that the full force of what the federal government is doing doesn't impact residents and businesses in the Northwest Territories. The total grants and rebates that are proposed here are $47.18 million. There's also almost $700,000 that is required to administer the program largely through the Canada Revenue Agency. We don't have necessarily the manpower to do it but it does still come with a cost. And then the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So the health recruitment unit does work both with or in three parts. There's health and social services, NTHSSA, as well as the Tlicho services or social TCSA, Madam Chair, to form working groups that are meant to have the human resources expertise on the one side but also then the TCSA expertise on the other side so that they can then develop together and identify together what the gaps are and how to respond to them. So I would certainly commit, Madam Chair, to perhaps getting some notes or some background as to where that working group is at from the with the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, Madam Chair, I was looking for something different there. Because this so the money that's showing up here in under the management board secretariat is the is related to the service payments that we have to maintain the line or for over the cost of having built the line but not necessarily connected to what is happening in terms of connecting communities.

So the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Line does create the point of presence of the fibre in the communities and we do pay for that and receive revenues for its use. But there is, meanwhile, work happening, led by...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, certainly I would note for at this moment, there is a junior officer, I think a human resources officer and an assistant in the Tlicho based in the Tlicho region. I certainly can appreciate, you know, feedback from the Member. It is difficult to necessarily draw a conclusion about the state of hiring or vacancy rates in a context right now given the labour market shortages across sectors and across Canada and whether or not that is related to a shift in how human resources was structured many years ago as compared to the circumstances we're facing today...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)

Thank you, Madam Chair. That was the last round of funding received from the federal government under this initiative. Thank you, Madam Chair.