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.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand it is the Tlicho government that would ultimately own that. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. This was negotiated as part of the collective agreement some years ago, and it goes to the Public Service Alliance's of Canada social justice fund, and 50 percent of that goes to United Way Northwest Territories.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, again, 172 is just the budgeted and I shouldn't say "just." It is a budgeted amount. There are other numbers within the budget that are based on a projection, then there are standard bases by which they come up with the projections, while meanwhile over on the yeah, we don't put actuals into the budget, you just put budgeted or projected amounts. That's where you will see the way the department's budgets get built up, of having the actuals. Main estimates is the budget, then the revised is things that have changed over time, and then finally ending again with new...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Department of Finance doesn't believe in tokenism. There is, of course, a number of efforts, as I know the House is familiar with respect to Indigenous recruitment and retention generally. So, again, Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, which was introduced now a couple of years ago but which is starting to roll out and I believe will be bearing fruit. So one of the things is that individual departments now have specific targets. I think that's a big deal, and it's worth focusing on a little because if you don't even have a target you could...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Yes, please.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm conscious of time so, look, I can say there is again yet, again, there's another framework being developed, Madam Chair. But, again, you need a framework to know within what how to what the parameters are of what you're trying to achieve. Interoperability, again I completely share this as being a priority. I have drank this KoolAid. We can't the systems around going to work together if they're not designed to work together and you can't train people to have them working within the same systems if they don't know what they're working within, so it does take a...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Yellowknifebased staff, I understand, are based in Yellowknife or in the YK Centre. Madam Chair, it's part of recruitment services. So, I mean, they can be embedded with other professionals who do recruitment as a day to day, or, I mean, embedded with health care professionals. To be honest, Madam Chair, I would expect that professionals in this sphere, and given the nature of their work, are expected to engage directly and regularly with their counterparts, whether it's the professionals on the recruitment side or whether it's those who are within...
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 75, Council of Women and Gender Diversity Act, be read for the second time.
This Bill repeals the Status of Women Council Act and establishes the Council for Women and Gender Diversity. The bill also clarifies roles and responsibilities under the Act, clarifies the composition of the council, and redefines its objects and powers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there are costs associated with having the Canada Revenue Agency administering our tax collection in general. So I don't know that this is necessarily unique or distinct. The reality is it would cost a significant amount of money for the GNWT to do that and human resources capacity. And if they didn't do it, we'd have to do it. So it's sort of a one way or the other. It might actually be more expensive for us to have to start up our own entire tax collection and administration system. CRA is actually a fairly large I think surprisingly large part of the...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 149)
Well, Madam Chair, perhaps more broadly then, I'll take a look at the regular reports that I do receive from the health recruitment unit and see if we can provide that so that Members have a better sense of what the work is that they are accomplishing.
I would say, Madam Chair, that they actually have seen some successes in terms of their hiring and some reduction in overall vacancies. However, of course, the market remains challenging so that's not to say that the situation is solved but it would be worth an update from them, and we'll provide that. Thank you.
