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.
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...
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.
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.
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 86)
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to improving Indigenous representation in the public service, and ensuring Indigenous employees are genuinely included, celebrated, and given opportunities to succeed. We are committed to creating a public service that is welcoming, culturally competent, and free of discrimination; one that serves in a way that respects and includes the Indigenous peoples and communities of this territory.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Finance is launching the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: The GNWT's Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan; The GNWT's Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework; and, The Interim Public Accounts for the GNWT for the year ended March 31st, 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a big question, and I'm trying to be brief, but it's an important one and I'm happy to have a chance to speak to it very, very briefly. But there needs to be a balance between being flexible and responsive and providing certainty to the business community. The business community needs to know what they're dealing with when they're making a bid. At the same time, things do change. COVID has showed us that things do change.
So it's certainly been my view in this role that we can have certainty and have clear processes, transparent processes, but also...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two different things I'm being asked to commit to.
With respect to bringing things under one shop, that was one of the items that was recommended in the review. It is something I certainly have spoken about the importance of. But as to how that will unfold, I am still going to abide by the process that we are in the middle of, which includes a defined process of engagement with Indigenous governments. So I'm not going to make any formal commitments other than to refer back to things I've already said in that regard.
