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, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are actually just having begun the budgets dialogues process which gets feedback from residents about areas of particular need or pinch and what we might be able to see in terms of changes to the budget for the upcoming year. At this point, I don't have any preannouncements to make about next year's budget. I can certainly say that I hope people are tuning in and participating in the dialogues process so that we can get a sense of where there maybe some opportunities to improve our processes and peruse the budget for the benefit of all going forward...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the Honourable Member for Hay River North, the Premier, will be absent from the House today to host the western Premiers' conference here in Yellowknife.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 57)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Member has overstepped the bounds that there's making inferences here about the Minister's intentions and the Minister's process and what the Minister may or may not be doing, imputing negative motives and a motive that's not present. The notion that she's not working with the Member or the Members of this House is -- in my view, it's not fair. That's a mischaracterization. It's not a characterization of work that's happened on this file, that's been described in this House today, and that we have information, all of us, knowing about the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be brief, Mr. Speaker. I know we were all given some warnings on being so, and I'm probably the worst at that. Well, Mr. Speaker, it's a tricky one. We obviously during COVID saw a number of different types of relief issued in terms of industry specific or sector specific, or aviation sector for example, but also had money that went into the pockets of residents and didn't always find that that was perhaps the best form of providing people the supports that they, in fact, required. So, you know, and then, of course, during evacuation, we were able to bring...
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Additional Information for Written Question 16-20(1): Environmental Liabilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the commitment I want to make really is one of fixing the problem that I just described in the last answer, and it may well be that it's -- that the solution is a labour relations board. It may well be that there's some other entity or organization that can conduct the bargaining or that can conduct a certification, if that's what is ultimately required. I'm hesitant, Mr. Speaker, to say here and with too much detail what -- where we may end up because we haven't necessarily gone out -- well, we haven't gone out yet. Certainly not to our unions currently...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, no, the government doesn't require consent or permission from other parties or -- including from the union to change the Public Service Act. That said, Mr. Speaker, as I indicated the union here certainly is more than merely a stakeholder, so certainly ensuring their involvement is quite important to making sure that we have a piece of legislation that is the best possible version of itself right now. And also, Mr. Speaker, there is certainly, I should make note, an expectation, an obligation on the government, a legal obligation on the government, in...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, modernization of the Public Service Act has, in its whole, been happening now over many years. There's been much work done in this space, and we already are at a stage with most of the Act such that it is already in legislative drafting and will be coming forward to the House later this year. That is with one exception, and that was with respect to section 41. That section, of course, the Member's already detailed, does involve bargaining units and is one that is a little more complicated and so we left that aside from the rest of the Act.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, Mr. Speaker, it's -- I'd have to go back and double check just to ensure that I'm, firstly, understanding the nature of the financial question that the Member's asking, but I'd certainly be happy to go back and take a look at the arrangements that were being made. Again, this does date back to an agreement and an offer that was from 2014 and certainly happy to provide the Member with some further detail. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't -- the question changed a little as we went. There's not extended debt. The power corporation's purchase of the Hay River franchise, of course began back in 2014, was -- and was only just recently completed in terms of determining the value of the assets and the amount that might have to be paid under it. That process is also now a part of the GRA that is underway, and the costs of the assets and the amounts paid and what that may or may not do to any rates will be part of that process and will be reviewed by the public utilities board. Thank you...
