Caroline Wawzonek

Députée de Yellowknife Sud

Première ministre adjointe
Ministre des Finances
Ministre responsable de la Société d’énergie des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Ministre responsable de l’infrastructure stratégique, de l’énergie et des chaînes d’approvisionnement

Caroline Wawzonek a été élue pour la première fois à la 19e Assemblée législative en 2019, comme représentante de Yellowknife Sud. Elle a été ministre de la Justice, ministre des Finances, ministre responsable de la condition de la femme, et ministre de l’Industrie, du Tourisme et de l’Investissement. En 2023, Mme Wawzonek a été élue par acclamation à la 20e Assemblée législative et a réintégré le Conseil exécutif en tant que première ministre adjointe, ministre des Finances, ministre de l’Infrastructure et ministre responsable de la Société d’énergie des TNO.

Mme Wawzonek a obtenu un baccalauréat ès arts de l’Université de Calgary en 2000 et un diplôme en droit de la faculté de droit de l’Université de Toronto en 2005. Son parcours universitaire comprend des études de langues en Chine et à Taïwan, ainsi que des stages de droit aux Philippines et en Angleterre. Mme Wawzonek est née à Calgary (Alberta) et habite Yellowknife depuis 2007.

Une fois admise au Barreau des TNO, Mme Wawzonek a mis sur pied sa propre pratique du droit pénal et a plaidé à tous les échelons du système judiciaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, et s’est souvent déplacée dans les collectivités ténoises à cet effet. Elle a ensuite intégré le cabinet d’avocats Dragon Toner, élargissant sa pratique au litige général et au droit administratif jusqu’à ce qu’elle devienne députée de la 19e Assemblée.

Depuis 2007, Mme Wawzonek a assumé de nombreux rôles de leadership au sein de la communauté juridique : elle a notamment été présidente du Barreau des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et présidente de section pour la division des Territoires du Nord-Ouest de l’Association du Barreau canadien, et a participé à divers groupes de travail. Son engagement envers la collectivité l’a amenée à œuvrer dans de multiples organisations de Yellowknife et, en 2017, elle a reçu un prix national soulignant le travail de femmes canadiennes œuvrant dans le domaine du droit.

Mère de deux enfants, Caroline Wawzonek aime courir, faire de la planche à pagaie et passer du temps à l’extérieur.

Committees

Caroline Wawzonek
Yellowknife Sud
Bureau

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Boîte
1320
Extension
12177
Vice-premier ministre, Ministère des finances, Ministre de l'Infrastructure, Ministre responsable de la Société d'énergie des Territoires du Nord-Ouest
Mobile
Ministre

Déclarations dans les débats

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Madam Chair, I believe that the industry and buildings GHG grant fund or grant program, and that, Madam Chair, would be an applicationbased grant program to support energy efficiency, renewable energy, and fuel substitution in industry and commercial buildings. So, Madam Chair, that is and by applicationbased. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand that provides for two aircraft. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, indeed, all managers do go through the management series program. That is mandatory. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is, right now, a onetime programming. It is we're part of I missed the name earlier, Tourism Relief Fund, which came out from the federal government and is extended through to the end of next year. I do hope that it's fully subscribed. That is certainly the point.

Whether we'll need anything further, you know, I can't say. Again, hoping we don't continue to need any sorts of relief or recovery.

The next stage of tourism funding would probably be looking over to the Tourism 2025, which is part of ITI's Main Estimates. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, can I turn that to the deputy minister, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had it described to me that when the decision was made, before my time here, to purchase the property, that it was thought to, in fact, be a good maneuver and, indeed, that it would in fact not have difficulty being sold. So regardless of that, at this point I will still note, Mr. Speaker, that the two properties, although being 140 kilometres apart, were jointly owned previously. They remain high grade Tungsten properties. Geopolitical events and the critical minerals and metals discussions suggest that there may well be a good opportunity right now...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, at this point, there's certainly the, you know, expectation based on what was being done and what was being tracked over the last few months, the last few months of where COVID was at. You know, this is expected to get us through that transition. I'm hesitating because of course I don't think anyone really knows what may or may not happen, say, this fall. You know, there's certainly a hope that with the vaccination rates that we have, with the availability of vaccinations for youth, for boosters, etcetera, that we won't be back in any kind of significant...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So yes, you'll recall the Fiscal Responsibility Policy requires that 50 percent of our capital budget is funded through supplementary or from operations surpluses. So yes, if there's less surplus available, then there'd be less money to spend in compliance with that policy. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to any sort of sale program or process that may be underway, it would not be unusual for that to involve confidential discussions. And if that's the case, it's very difficult, if not impossible, considering legal obligations, to be displaying that out publicly.

That said, Mr. Speaker, we are a consensus government and there's been a lot of work done in this Assembly in terms of understanding better how to communicate between Ministers and MLAs when it comes to the development of legislation and the development of regulations, and perhaps there's...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so again, this is a program that was cost shared with the federal government, and it was part of funding that was being delivered through COVID19 and the pandemic when airline services across the country were facing fairly dire straits, when there was the sort of significant and immediate shut downs of airline services and impacts to them.

The portion that we received was to help maintain air service costs across the Northwest Territories. The federal government wasn't, you know, supporting which you know, based on where ownership might be. They were...