Caroline Wawzonek

Member Yellowknife South

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.
 

Committees

Caroline Wawzonek
Yellowknife South
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
12177
Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance, Minister of Infrastructure, and Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation
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Minister
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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Sorry, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I've just lost the page that I'm looking for. So why don't I turn it to Ms. Bolstad. I think she has it in front of her.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's partial offset $1.35 million in federal support have come in, so the net to the GNWT is $2.15 million. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the main estimates are due out -- well, we've already gone through one round of them and the next ones aren't due out until, of course, the February sitting. It's not usually my practice or any other finance Minister's practice to discuss them in great detail before that happens. So our own processes this year are still underway in terms of building our budget, and so that directive remains in place. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we were just outside of the warranty period, unfortunately. With respect to whether or not there might be an insurance claim, that, Mr. Chair, I think does remain something of an open question. You know, again, the decision to ultimately replace them was based on the fact of the concern for a risk, and so whether or not the insurance company will accept that as being an insurable risk or not, again I at this point can't say. That'll be up to the insurance company. But I don't think a final decision has been made on whether we will pursue that or not. Again...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this one, again, and similarly the project is underway but there is a need to revise the timing of the delivery of the project. I do expect this one, similarly, will be completed in the fiscal year of 2027-2028. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I expect that the total cost of this will come in in and around $7 million. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, Mr. Chair, I would say a lot more is done than that. I didn't have the exact date of the completion. It was my own error. So where we're at right now, the initial problem was identified back in August, so about a year and some ago. A lot of testing was done immediately in lab-based tests to ensure whether the problem was engineering, construction, design, or otherwise. They were able to identify that it was the metal itself, which is the point at which they went out to the original constructor of the bridge to have those pieces rebuilt or recast. So those 24 anchors...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I understand that the design for the facility is already complete and that it's, in fact, the procurement process is already as well complete and has been awarded. I would want to double check that with the Minister of health but that is my understanding, is that the process is actually quite a ways along and so they're not going to go back to redo the design and the construction bid and the procurement process. I know there were some concerns raised this summer when there was a lot of effort being made in order to ensure that we were supporting the community...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to speak to this question. I think there has been a lot of concern and rumor and frustration on this but in fact, as I said, it's -- we're really only just barely over a year since the issue was identified, and what they've done is gone back to the original constructor of the bridge. Rather than try to find someone new to fit themselves in, they've gone back to them to recast these pieces again. They had to, in fact -- well, to recast the entire 24 bars. So that's now been done. It's been happening by this other company. At the same time...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 31)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the estimate we do have and what we are appropriating is $6.5 million. So that is the estimate right now, and hopefully, you know -- yes, you know, total costs, as I understand it, for all things engineering, fabrication, construction, the work that was done to prepare the testing, etcetera, is at $6.8 million, so this $7 million was me rounding up $6.8 million, Mr. Chair, and I should be more specific. $6.8 million in total. This is $6.5 million. This is the amount we don't have. Thank you.