Caroline Wawzonek just said goodbye to her dream job.
Having spent a career working in human rights and criminal defence, chairing committees and working groups dedicated to bettering the justice system and addressing the chronic issues it creates, she was elected into office one year ago and immediately selected to become the N.W.T.’s new justice minister.
“To be there, frankly, at a pivotal time where I think there is this social movement for change — I absolutely loved it,” she said.
“It really has been what I wanted it to be,” she said. “That, you know, you can put your hand on something and start to see movement in a different direction.”
Two weeks ago, Wawzonek left that job as the result of a cabinet shuffle in the wake of former industry and infrastructure minister Katrina Nokleby’s stunning departure from cabinet.
But in the process, Wawzonek took on one of Nokleby’s old departments — Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) — adding it to her ongoing role as finance minister.
Walking out that meeting, Wawzonek had somehow gained an even greater responsibility than she had at justice: guiding the territory’s economy through an unprecedented crisis.
Seal fur crafts at the Inuvialuit craft store in Inuvik, N.W.T. As minister of ITI, Wawzonek’s mandate spans from responding to the needs of home crafters and small businesses to wooing billion-dollar mining conglomerates to the N.W.T. (Mackenzie Scott/CBC)
A ‘broad, broad obligation’
To quote Wawzonek, ITI is an “interesting department.” It’s amorphous mandate spans from wooing billion-dollar mining conglomerates to placating gas station owners in communities of fewer than 100 people.
“It’s not actually large in terms of its … number of staff, and it’s not actually large in terms of its budget,” she said. “What it is huge with is its complexity.”
As minister of finance and, now, industry, Wawzonek will be tasked with not only announcing million-dollar relief funds and economic incentives, but ensuring they are implemented correctly.
That has not always been easy. ITI is sometimes the target of criticism from the territory’s private sector, accused of creating unnecessary delays and red tape.
Some of those problems originate in other departments, Wawzonek stressed. But she acknowledged ITI is frequently the “interface” between government and the private sector.
“If we’re not able to show that we’re hearing those concerns and translating it into action at [the] cabinet table … that is when that relationship breaks down,” she said.
Recently, that issue came to a head over how the government hands out contracts — in some cases, bypassing Indigenous companies that had been labouring to build capacity for decades in favour of southern-based corporations.
ITI has been criticized for handing lucrative contracts to southern corporations at the expense of Indigenous companies. Tlicho Grand Chief George Mackenzie, pictured here at the 2019 Tlicho annual gathering in Gameti, N.W.T., called the territory’s past approach an ‘insult’. (Walter Strong/CBC)
Wawzonek said her first priority will be to see a promised procurement review through to completion, during which controversial tools like the N.W.T.’s Business Incentive Policy will be up for discussion.
“We want to be providing value,” she said. “But we also want to ensure that to the best extent that we possibly can, the benefits of government procurement is staying in the North.”
“So I think there’s a very big picture discussion that needs to happen, and then there’s the one-on-one with businesses who say … this was a difficult process to navigate.”
But Wawzonek’s mandate letter — the longest of any minister — also asks her to address long-standing challenges that have stumped previous governments: increasing employment, diversifying the N.W.T.’s economy, and attracting new mining investment.
On the latter, Wawzonek is a realist about the problems facing the mining industry in the territory: unsettled land claims, a lack of infrastructure, and regulatory complexity often said to discourage investment.
Haul trucks lined up for a safety check at the Gahcho Kué diamond mine in February. Wawzonek said the problems facing the northern mining industry are not going to be resolved overnight. (Submitted by De Beers Group)
“The reality is with all three of them, those are not easy problems to fix tomorrow,” she said.
While mining will remain the cornerstone of the economy through her tenure, Wawzonek said she’ll take her lead from regional diversification strategies when deciding which other sectors to target for growth.
“Keeping in mind always that our goal … isn’t just to, you know, diversify for the sake of it,” she said. “It’s to grow an economy from the Northwest Territories.”
Problems predating COVID-19
Her biggest challenge — and greatest limitation — is impossible to ignore: an unending pandemic that has kept the territory’s borders closed and businesses hobbled.
COVID-19 received little mention in Wawzonek’s mandate letter, but it is likely to dominate her immediate future in the role.
Wawzonek has previously spoken about how COVID-19 is making the territory’s problems worse. But faced with the challenge of delivering a fair economic recovery on a tight budget, Wawzonek said not much has changed.
“Our economic challenges and our budgetary challenges started before COVID-19, right?” she said. “What COVID-19 has done is forced everyone to really … reckon with the reality.”
That makes the issue of judging her success or failure in the role a difficult one. Wawzonek takes a moment when asked how she’d judge herself.
In the end, she opts for modest goals — better budgeting in finance that shows the “value for dollar” of government programs, and a procurement review that makes businesses feel heard.
“I think they have to say when things are better,” she said.
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
