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. Broadly speaking, there is sort of an internal review of SEED taking place, where we will look at the question of market disruption, which again seems to have higher and lower popularity depending on the size of one community, but I do not have my SEED materials or this sort of material in front of me on the mains review. Let me send this over to Deputy Minister Strand to see if she is in a position to respond to that here. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe, certainly for the small- and medium-sized operators, my understanding is that it's actually $175 as a fee. Again, if that's incorrect, I will ensure that we correct that. With respect to having the licence, it is one way that we are able to assure the public that there is protection for them, that there is some control over who is offering services and often offering services that are in remote locations. Actually, you know what, Madam Chair? I am getting information in real time, so $580 for a new licence but only $175 for a renewal. Again, it hasn't come...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Where they're at right now, there was a session before the winter break, and there's been a second session after. Sorry, by session, it's a strategic planning session that brings in all of the board members who are from across the Northwest Territories together to be at in-person meetings for the full board again. Two rounds of that, the second one was just, I believe, last month, if not maybe late in January. I am told that I can expect a summary report from them fairly soon as a result of those two sessions. I don't, however, know, Madam Chair, what the total cost of...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is project-based funding. I would like to suggest I can direct that to the deputy minister to describe the changes in programming.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Today, we have Pamela Strand, deputy minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and Nina Salvador, director of finance and administration at ITI.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do not necessarily subscribe to the view that oversubscription equals good value for money. I do agree generally, though, that the SEED funding does seem to be one that does support small business, small/medium businesses, and community events and projects, so I would like to just simply say that this is clearly a good program. The direction that we are going right now in the government is that we are going to figure out which are the good programs that are delivering on what they say that they are delivering, in this case assistance to businesses and individuals...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Of that 10 percent, you often have businesses that employ guides locally, boat operators, airline operators locally, and certainly may use other tourist products here, such as local hotels during transfers and food operators, logistics, supplies, et cetera. Whether it's direct employees or whether it's indirectly spent, those who may be based in the South are still often very important local operators. What I would, perhaps, suggest or commit to doing is to provide information, to the extent that we have it, that outlines the spending that we are aware of by those...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Each Community Futures organization does have a fair bit of latitude to administer their programs, and I would suggest that they immediately contact their Community Futures organizations in the community that they are in, knowing, of course, too, that there are certainly opportunities directly to ITI, that if certain things don't fall neatly within the Community Futures, there's a number of other programs still specific to COVID relief available. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. May I suggest going to the director of finance, please.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Yes, Madam Chair. I am here to present the 2021-2022 Main Estimates for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $404,000 or 0.7 percent over the main estimates of 2020-2021. These estimates support the mandate objectives for ITI while continuing to meet the GNWT's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.
Highlights of these proposed estimates include:
Initiative funding totalling $2.296 million, which includes:
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$936,000 to continue our support of tourism under Tourism 2025 towards the five-year...
