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. Chair. And -- doesn't help. Mr. Chair, I was -- I'm looking at a blank page. Can I turn that to the deputy minister, please.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 32)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left I have Bill MacKay, the deputy minister of Finance. And on my right, Dave Heffernan, the government's chief information officer.
Mr. Speaker, nobody likes a short answer of one that just says no, but unfortunately this instance the short answer is no. The supplementary estimates are -- they come forward as having been gone through the financial management board to bring about issues or things that arise. One example is the collective agreement that was finalized, so this comes forward to bring a couple of collective agreements in. And I have to obviously comply with the collective agreement. Another major item in there was fire suppression funding. We have to pay the bill for our fire suppression funding. Another big...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This certainly is a challenge. It's a challenge across industry. But given the situation we're in, we are trying to bring in more licensed drivers. Some of that backlog, I will say, you know, a bit of a plug for folks who are looking to get their licenses as new drivers, if they want to take a driver's course first, that might reduce the number of repeat customers that we have over at the DMV. But with respect to those that are looking to be professional drivers, that's a different category. They're struggling with the same issue in that we have the same limited number...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 32)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is precisely what I was speaking to. But if I may, I might suggest having the chief information officer just speak to that a little bit further. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm on behalf of the department that someone's going to be there. There's no question that some senior representatives from the department can go. I want to just double check my own calendar. I've got commitments already to -- a couple of other regions where I've been waiting to get to. So certainly best efforts on my part. I'm always happy to go back. I've been to Norman Wells here a couple of times already in this government. Happy to go back. If I can't be there in person, I'll certainly make sure that I'm available in some other means. But I also wouldn't...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 32)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I actually have to say I was wondering if the question would be more around the waste that's created by electronic devices, but -- so, again, I can say, look, I appreciate that, bringing attention to this particular item, you know, maybe when we go back and we look a little more carefully, if there's some element that we still want to consider when we are putting forward the substantiation but, you know, again, the essential nature of having this basic equipment to run the government I don't think is lost but justa making sure we are turning our minds to the...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 32)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I mean, obviously every element of the budget does at some point come through the department of -- well, sorry, not the department of FMB but through the FMB. But this is an item that is a standing -- I guess a standing element sort of its own pot. It doesn't necessarily, quite frankly -- I mean, what we're dealing with is -- just to put some numbers to it, 7,000 different devices for all staff which, you know, 6,000 plus public servants, offices across 33 communities, some of which are on fibre, some of which are still on microwave, so an allocation of $1.95...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 32)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, there is. And I appreciate the question it doesn't necessarily line up from the title of the project what it is. But by having a modernization project of this nature, we're actually being -- making it easier for residents to access government services. It provides the ability to make services more accessible to all residents across the entire territory. It helps us decentralize those services, gives an opportunity to greater decentralize the services but also greater decentralize potentially positions associated with those services. These are obviously economic...
