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.
There have been a lot of conversations happening at the Department of Finance around how to support workers who are either on leave or having to return, depending on the nature of the travel, if they have to take 14 days. I am certainly not suggesting that this is a definite program that is, in fact, in play, only that we have had to consider what we are going to do if staff are suddenly told, "No, you can't take leave," or "If you take leave, you still have to self-isolate," without getting some sense of when such a change would take place. Certainly, up to this point, a lot of generous leave...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is through the ISSS division. This is a project that will replace the system that is currently being used in the Department of Infrastructure to manage different drivers' licences, and it is intended to incorporate facial recognition technology into that licensing process. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Madam Chair, I am not sure if the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment would know, in fact, if the planning is complete. I believe it is, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you, Madam Chair. This project is part of a capital plan that was approved not by any Member here in this Assembly but by the prior Assembly. Certainly, when the next capital plan comes forward, then that certainly will be an opportunity to question why. If there is not a project at that point in one of the smaller communities, that would be an opportunity to press any Member of Cabinet with what those plans might be going forward. At this point, what we are doing is carrying over money on a project that is already underway, that was already approved. I'm not sure that we'll be in a...
Mr. Speaker, I know that we have been working on a number of initiatives in order to support staff who might be leaving the territory, and I am not going to misstate exactly what those provisions are. I will get that answer for the Member. I am half-expecting it to show up in my inbox as I am standing here. I do know that there has been a lot of discussion about it, but at the moment, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to misstate exactly who is getting what leave, and when, and for what purpose. We want to support the employees, but we also want to be fair and ensure that everybody is being treating...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister of Infrastructure feels a somewhat greater degree of confidence than I do that there are some relaxings in terms of the kinds of funding that might be available. So, again, at this point, not knowing myself what the shortfall is, not knowing the reasons for it, not knowing what stage we're at, I simply can't right now, at this point, say when it will necessarily come toward to FMB. In addition to which, obviously, it's not the Department of Finance who would be bringing it forward. It would be one of my colleagues. At the very least, I would commit to work...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Yes.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, there is not one single reason, but there are a number of reasons. I would certainly say I would like to have a better way of tracking. I would like to ensure we can track exactly those reasons and see what trends there are. Without knowing exactly how we would do that, I would like to make a sort of tentative commitment that we'll be doing that kind of tracking. Again, in this particular case, it was as bad as it was largely because of these particular projects. Quite a large number of large projects all came available for funding all at the same time, which did...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Madam Chair, I am confident that the Minister of Health and Social Services has the answer.
I had the opportunity to speak with our MP just recently. He certainly is a proponent of the First Nations Policing Program, as is the Department of Justice and as the Department of Justice has been for some 10 years. The First Nations Policing Program is a cost-shared program. It is a cost-share that gives us a much better opportunity for return. That is why we don't have to put as much in as compared to the territorial policing agreement, which is a 70-30 agreement, so it's a much higher cost to the GNWT. I would more than happily split the costs with the federal government along the lines...
