Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in the 2019 election. She represents the electoral district of Yellowknife South, and was elected to Premier Caroline Cochrane's cabinet by the new cohort of territorial MLAs on October 24, 2019. Currently, Caroline is Minister of Finance, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Minister responsible for the Status of Women, and Minister responsible for the Business Development and Investment Corporation. Previously she was Minister of Justice, but a cabinet shuffle resulted in new portfolios.

Caroline was born and raised in Calgary by hard working, first generation immigrant parents. As an adult, she met her biological birth family and was proud to discover that her paternal birth family are members of the Métis Nation of Alberta and can trace their ancestry to Louis Riel and the founding of the Red River settlement.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Calgary (2000) majoring in Law and Society with a minor in Mandarin. In 2002 she went to law school with the belief that she could help make the world a better place, with aspirations to work somewhere like the UN (she completed with a law degree from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law 2005).
As life goes, in 2007 a career opportunity brought her and her geologist husband, Kevin, north to Yellowknife on a “one year plan” that they have since learned is code for “we are going to raise our kids here and buy a boat.” They are now raising their two children in one of the most unique cities in Canada.

Soon after arriving she started traveling on circuit courts across the NWT. As a lawyer, her job involved listening to a client’s story and being ready to stand up for that story. Caroline heard story after story about the impacts of the Indian Residential School system, of what happens when children witness violence, about the pain of addictions, poverty and heartbreaking trauma.

For five years, she ran her own criminal law practice traveling to communities across the NWT. In 2013, as her eldest turned one, she joined Dragon Toner Law Office and moved into general litigation. Caroline worked with individuals, businesses, non-profits and governments to find solutions to legal and policy problems.

As a dedicated community advocate, she worked to advance the great ideas that were all around her. She held executive positions at the Law Society NWT, NWT Montessori Society, NWT YWCA, NWT Chamber of Commerce and AVENS. She was also appointed to the Legal Aid Commission, the Income Support Appeal Committee and the City of Yellowknife’s Social Issues Committee. In 2017, she was honoured to be one of the recipients of a national award celebrating Canadian Women in Law.
Living in Yellowknife gives her constant personal and professional opportunities: to run a small business, to be both in court and on her paddle board the same day, and to present a TEDx talk. She believes the NWT can be a leader in Canada’s future and she is glad to be a part of a government that will lead NWT there.

She has realized that she is exactly where she needs to be to make a positive impact on people’s lives and the community that is her home.

Not because she has all the answers, She doesn’t have all the answers.

But she can be a means to an end for her clients, for community organizations that she works with and, she hopes, for her community at large. She can be a means for those with the solutions to put those solutions into action.
Because she understands how to make government and justice processes effective. She knows how to gather evidence to hold government accountable. And she knows how to advocate for change.

And that is why Caroline ran, and ultimately, became a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
During her leisure time she enjoys running, paddle boarding, cross country skiing and family game nights. She also cannot resist a dance floor. Caroline Wawzonek
"Personal MLA Website"
October 2019

References

Living people
Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Women MLAs in the Northwest Territories
People from Yellowknife
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians
Year of birth missing (living people)

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