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. This is a busy unit. It has a lot going on and across different areas of the department. This is where the socio-economic agreements reside. This will be where the remediation work, the remediation economy resides. This is where the Northwest Territories geological survey resides with all of its scientists. There's actually only a small percentage that is minerals specific. It is quite wide-ranging and quite broad. We have our client services community relations section that's here which supports, in fact, small businesses and small prospectors to take action and to be...
This actually allows me to answer the last part of the previous question that I realize I didn't get to. With respect to curriculum, that certainly falls very much within ECE's purview. With respect to the kind of programming and opportunities that are available for students in high school in a young age bracket, I absolutely will commit to speaking with ECE, with my colleague, to see what we can do so that we can find some complementary programs and ideas. One thing, Mr. Speaker, that ITI is right now at the idea stage of, and it's an exciting stage, is looking at bringing junior achievement...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Fisheries regulations specifically, to the extent that there would be changes, they may well involve either ENR or the Department of Oceans and Fisheries from the federal government. The work that we are doing right now, from ITI's end, is to support, firstly, the Tlicho Fishers Cooperative, as they are getting ready to operate the fish plant that is being built as well as working with some of the other Indigenous governments or communities around the lake to build up their capacity, whether in terms of training or whether in terms of local processing, small-scale micro...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. No. Madam Chair, just confirming. I did certainly confirm back with the department after the discussion here in the House that there is continued interest to have some sort of a coupon once again. Hearing it on the floor of the House is an important tool that raises its profile in the department, so we are well aware, and we want to have that ready to go. As I said, again, the dates for bookings do open in May, so a bit of time, but we want the information out. I am conscious of that. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Madam Chair, typos are pretty rare in the main estimates. No, it's not a typo. Look, the mineral resources sector has had some pretty significant struggles over the last year and, we are expecting, likely will continue to have some pretty significant ups and downs in the year to come. The estimates in the forecast are perhaps a bit conservative, but I suspect the Minister of Finance would rather have a conservative estimate than have a wide variation in terms of the own-source revenues that we are expecting to have come in. If, in fact, the diamond markets continue to rebound, as they seem to...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I don't have my tourism section open just now, but there is a close relationship, obviously, working with federal partners. It is our intention, much as when COVID first hit, to continue to work with them to understand what they are able to fund so that we are prepared to support their programs, complement their programs, or fill gaps if there are any. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I can certainly go through the details of what is specifically ongoing right now. I'm not seeing that we've added one, but let me just double check that back over with Deputy Minister Strand, please.
BDIC's statistics do show that approximately nine percent of total loans go to businesses where women are the sole proprietor. Approximately, 55 percent of total loans go to those where there's a woman who is, at least, a part-owner of the business.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a conversation worth having, so I will go and have the conversation. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the drop of $2 million that you can see between the revised 2020 estimates and the mains for 2021-2022 relate really to the fact that there was increased funding coming through CanNor to support the tourism industry in COVID. If you kind of look at the main estimates to main estimates, there actually is not very much variance there. Sorry, Madam Chair. I am going to have to get the second half of her question. It's gone. I apologize.
