Caroline Wawzonek

Member Yellowknife South

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.
 

Committees

Caroline Wawzonek
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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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, these portables will continue to be under the ownership of Education, Culture and Employment and no doubt will continue to see much use in the territory. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So Madam Chair, the federally imposed borrowing limit does not change. This is a change to the actual long-term debt that was taken on in the 2020-2021 year but did not actually have a an impact on the total debt that that was there. It was just that this this amount went over on the long-term debt. I'm sure there's more questions coming, Madam Chair. I'll stop there.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly was listening when the Member spoke earlier and gave her Member's statement. I have had my own constituents come to me wanting to do more, wanting to improve their education level, and continue to contribute as public servants. So while it is  departments that have to be the ones defining their own needs and defining where they expect to see growth within their own departments and divisions, certainly the Department of Finance can take a role in terms of coordinating what is needed across the government.

So I'll certainly commit to going back to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so, again, the lead on delivering the project and project detail is the Department of Infrastructure. I'm not sure, again, if Minister Archie necessarily has all of her materials with her. I've not been directly approached, but I don't know that I would be necessarily. Again, I think it probably would be Minister Archie who would be the first point of contact.

I can say more from the Department of ITI, there is a lot of interest in general in the region and in being ready and available to be part of what is being envisioned out there.

So for and out there...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the majority of the cost is in the current year, in the current draft capital plan that we have actually just been going through in the last couple of weeks. I don't have those total numbers in front of me, but it is significantly more than $203,000 to get portables up to Colville Lake. So, again, I don't have that in front of me. We've just gone through it here in the last couple of weeks, though. That's where the bulk of it is. If I do recall correctly, I think it's the site design work that needs -- there we are. So, yeah, the beginning of site...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, again, Madam Chair, I mean, there's a level of detail that I'm not necessarily going to have operationally. And it may be that we just want to commit to that. But let me see if the Minister of Health is in a position to fill in a bit more of that, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employees need to have three years of service in order to be eligible for education leave and then beyond that, the more specific conditions are within the collective agreement. So it is done at a departmental level, and anyone who is considering applying should be speaking directly to their supervisor just to confirm that they're eligible and to go through that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Madam Chair, I mean I'm I'm not going to speak on behalf of the Government of Nunavut. It does so happen that the deputy minister might know something about what was going over there. So in the interest of collaboration, why don't I see if the deputy minister has any information on that.