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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Minister
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Statements in Debates

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just be clear first at the outset that it is, indeed  everyone that has to be, at this point, providing a proof of vaccination or else they will be asked to comply with enhanced personal protective equipment and ultimately a testing regime.

In doing so, in asking our employees to comply with that policy, privacy absolutely was a top consideration, Mr. Speaker. The information that we are requesting, the records we are requesting, they are, indeed, going to be held on a needtoknow only basis at the Department of Human  Department of Finance and Human...

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the I have the background here. Let me turn this to Mr. Courtoreille. He may have the most recent detail on what what's done other the current year, or in the last construction season. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. So because of the fact that the road was able to well, again, the end date hasn't changed, but in terms of the timing of when some of the portions of it were complete, my understanding is that as a result of that, payments had to be made, and it was underestimated how quickly some stages of that project would go. When some of them go more quickly, the expenses incurred, the debt is then booked to the books, and that's what in doing that final reconciling at the time of doing year end, it was noticed that, in fact, they had exceeded the debt limit as appropriated...

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Certainly, you can't say with a hundred percent certainty that there won't still be carryovers from the 2021-2022 infrastructure budget. What we're trying to do is minimize the number of carryovers that do take place on this. So certainly is our -- right now with -- and knowing that the construction season is -- for this year, at least, is drawing to a close or has drawn to a close. So hopefully we're in a position having reviewed this and bringing the negative appropriation, that there won't in fact be carryovers. So it's a different way of looking at the accounting of...

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, work was done to confirm with our insurance that the assets don't need to transfer. So the assets are still going to belong to YK1 and YCS. They will not get transferred. It is  they are being brought into our program. There had been adjustments prior occasions for insurance, and of course that hopefully now in fact, they will be seeing that we'll be able to get a better insurance rate by being under the GNWT's program. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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

[Audio] Madam Chair. Yes, $2.8 million was spent in the current. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think was already the subject of a fair bit of discussion between Minister Thompson and the Member already with regards to the project with regards to the work that's underway and/or already completed. I'm not going to restate all the answers that were given by my colleague. I can certainly turn it over to Minister Thompson and have him just speak to what work is outstanding.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, it's not transferred in. It is cash flowed differently, and perhaps, Madam Chair, I'm going to see if in fact Mr. Courtoreille may want to take a stab at explaining that.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we'll certainly endeavor to get that. I mean, again, as the Minister of ECE had said, this isn't funding that gets divided based on region or community. It gets divided dependent upon the nature of the services provided to children. And indeed, you know, if there's more unlicensed child care, I imagine that would certainly impact what appears to be the amount of funding that might flow. It might not necessarily be reflective entirely of the services because, again, there may be choices being made around why someone might choose to be unlicensed. But we can...

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

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's at a stage of design and the initial permitting, Madam Chair. Thank you.