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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 48)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am here to present Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act.

Bill 11 is a package of amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act, which include changing how information held by the registrar of motor vehicles can be shared.

First, Bill 11 will protect consumers by allowing anyone shopping for a used vehicle to independently verify its registration history.

Second, the bill will support the NWT Bureau of Statistics to conduct its population count by allowing the registrar to share information from driver's licenses with government agencies.

Third, the bill will...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 48)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's always a bit of hesitancy to be seen to be giving or suggesting how people should go about their taxes, but I take that point and I certainly commit to go back to the department and make sure that we are sharing what we can about where to access more information, what to do if people are uncertain about where to go with questions around CRA and to use their calculating -- calculators. So, again, I'll go back and make sure that our comms folks are active in this space and we're doing what we can to help educate residents. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 48)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is, indeed, and I certainly can get those numbers for the Member. I don't have all different stretches of highway. But I would certainly be able to provide that to this House.

And, Mr. Speaker, I just want to make one more note. There are -- there is a movement in some phone abilities now for people's cell phones to actually connect directly to satellite. I want to say that here because, again, this is an issue that affects residents, and I appreciate the opportunity to bring attention to the fact that people should look at their own new -- the newer...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 48)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a situation that we are somewhat dependent or really quite dependent on right now on NorthwesTel. They are our provider of cell services. What we have done in this space is certainly encourage them directly as a stakeholder here in the North but also encourage CRTC to ensure that their funding pots and funding pools are available to provide supports for exactly this service. And, Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest reasons -- or one of the biggest barriers isn't necessarily just the cell towers themselves. It's the lack of energy to actually power those...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 47)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, firstly, the rough math of about $50 million is correct insofar as what I've listed here. There's additional money that we get from the federal government, so this is not the sum total of all that we spend. And, indeed, there is some further and additional funds that do go towards the climate change framework that is out of my colleague's department in ECC. The energy action plan or the energy strategy that is being renewed right now, some of that I can list out as being at around $2.1 million, but that does not necessarily include staffing costs that we...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 47)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of privilege. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to lay out why I make this point of privilege this morning -- or this afternoon. There's two parts to meet the initial threshold. Question of privilege, as you know, Mr. Speaker, must be raised at the earliest opportunity. The nature of the matter described must show on its face to be a breach of privilege.

Mr. Speaker, I became aware of some accusations made last night only after the rise of House. This is my first opportunity to bring this matter forward. As to the second part of the test, I'd like to...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 47)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It certainly is related to all of these other initiatives to try to remove our reliance on fossil fuels, and I am happy to say, and really it's -- I passed this torch to my colleague from ITI, Minister Cleveland, with respect to the efforts that she is now taking to indeed dust this off. She's been out all year speaking to the Japanese consulate, to PNWER, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, speaking -- going to be coming up at the Arctic Energy and Resource Symposium in Calgary in March. I believe she's spoken to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. So...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 47)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is quite a variety of items that we do undertake within the GNWT towards improving renewable energies. For example, there are about $12.3 million put towards greenhouse gas emission reduction projects. This consists of money that goes to Arctic Energy Alliance, for instance, where they do, obviously, have renewable energy systems that they provide supports for. There's another $2 million that goes to an energy action plan which includes some programming and some supports to residents and communities around energy planning. The retrofit program in GNWT...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 46)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 19-20(1), Report on the Statutory Review of the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 46)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly have a good relationship with the mayor of Yellowknife and, again, I don't want to create false hope that I have great faith that there's an easy pot for us to latch onto in the federal system right now. They, of course, are going through their own political changes, it would seem, in the next few months. But, again, certainly will commit that, at least from the Department of Infrastructure, to the extent that we are aware and do work with federal funding opportunities, again, we'll work with my colleagues here, and between myself and the Minister of MACA...