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.
Mr. Speaker, today is the day that the Northwest Territories tourism sector has been anticipating for nearly two years. I am happy to finally say that as of today, the Northwest Territories is welcoming back friends and visitors from near and far.
We all know that the Northwest Territories is a growing destination of choice for travelers from across Canada and around the world. In fact, in the year prior to the COVID19 pandemic, the territory had a record 120,000 visitors, contributing more than $210 million to its economy.
Mr. Speaker, the circumstances surrounding COVID19 have been...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 20212022; Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 20212022; and the Northwest Territories Tourism 20222023 Marketing Plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my last answer, Mr. Speaker, these two properties were jointly owned previously so having them as one unit under one owner is not particularly unusual. They are both highgrade Tungsten properties. Tungsten, of course, is one of the 31 critical minerals and metals on Canada's critical metals list, and under current geopolitical circumstances that may well help make these properties particularly in greater value and incentivize a private owner.
Mr. Speaker, again, we are working with Canada on this; Canada having the ownership of Cantung and us having...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can go and look into the specific number the Member is quoting. My understanding is that when the GNWT purchased the Mactung asset, we did so and that became our asset. Canada, of course, owns the Cantung property. And at this point, the two parties tother are agreeing to market those assets as one and as such, as we go forward, there's nothing more owed to the GNWT by North American Tungsten. So again, I'll double check to confirm if there's some misunderstanding on what's on there, Mr. Speaker. At this point, we're proceeding with a process that's well...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, the labour market supplement was something that we didn't have before. It does provide a tool. Given that the collective agreement is the bargaining document on which all of the salaries are based, all the recruitment any recruitment bonuses would be based, the total package of salary is based. So to go outside of that to offer something extra, we had to create this labour market supplement that would give us that proper tool or that basis on which to do that. In that policy, it does state that, of course, still the UNW remains the representative for...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, the Member's quite right. This certainly speaks to the experience we've all had during COVID19. But this was something that was considered even before that. It's a direction that a lot of the public service sorry, the human resources experts are starting to look at across Canada. We want to be a workplace that is keeping up with the direction of human resources approaches. We want to be a workplace that is considered attractive to bring people here and not so that people will leave and want to have that flexibility for folks who may be outside of a...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as of January 31st, there are 31 employees on active duty working outside of the territory. That represents about .4 percent of the total work force. The majority the vast majority of those, of course, would have been approved by their supervisors prior to this policy taking effect. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question of public consumption was one of the questions that was part of a recent consultation in preparation for the Liquor Act review and that "what we heard" report is coming, I believe, later this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a lot of hypotheticals at this point given that we're still under the current act and given that the tender hasn't even been begun; that process hasn't even begun yet. But right now, the way it's set up under the act is, of course, that it has to go through a system whereby the official retailer would have to be designated. And even before getting to that point, Mr. Speaker, when considering what the procurement process would look like, and there's an analysis that's done by the NTLCC, the liquor commission, that looks at whether or not more stores are...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is one where I think both my colleague, Minister of Justice, and I would have some relevance just to speak to this issue.
