Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister of Education, Culture and Employment
The Honourable Caitlin Cleveland was first elected in the 19th Assembly as the MLA for Kam Lake in 2019, and has served as the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment since 2023 after being acclaimed to the 20th Assembly.
In addition to owning and operating a northern business for over 20 years, Minister Cleveland worked in a variety of communications and policy roles in both the public and private sectors before entering politics.
Between 2019 to 2023, she chaired the Standing Committee on Social Development, fulfilling a goal to be a part of the discussions and decisions affecting social programs in the Northwest Territories. Her noteworthy work on the Committee included guiding the considerable review and input into recommendations on housing in the NWT, suicide prevention, and improvements to caring for children in care and building supported families.
Within the scope of her portfolios, Minister Cleveland is focused on helping children grow into successful NWT residents that recognize opportunities and develop successful careers that contribute to a growing economy. She advocates for new approaches to sector diversification and innovation, and ensures the North is welcoming both skilled foreign workers and investment in the critical mineral resources across the territory. She persistently explores solutions for efficient and equitable access to programs and services, upholding a shared vision of an NWT where people are supported in the ways they wish to live, work, and grow.
Minister Cleveland is a lifelong resident of Yellowknife where she lives with her husband and their three children.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, this was a soft launch at PDAC where we were able to attract different ambassadors from different countries who have now their own critical mineral funds, their own raw materials funds. We were able to attract different investors, mining companies, exploration companies, and really we're able to start by rolling this out. We do have some collateral, and there will also be a web page that I'd be more than happy to share on social media to ensure that Northerners also have access to it as well. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this program was just recently announced -- the Member is right -- when we were at PDAC, and it's an investment from CanNor, $460,000 between the three territories, to invest in essentially a promotional campaign to attract investment to the three territories specific to critical mineral mining. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we have great rocks. The global demand for critical minerals continues to grow, and the Northwest Territories is well-positioned to play a key role in supplying these essential resources to Canada and its allies. With over two-thirds of the critical minerals listed by Canada, and almost half identified by the United States, our territory is a significant contributor to securing a stable and responsible supply of materials vital to clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital technologies.
Recognizing the opportunity before us, the Government of the Northwest Territories...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, overall the initiative is focused on critical minerals and then from there, on mineral resource development and, really, investment attraction in the territory. But our focus is certainly these days on critical minerals given that's where the world is really turning its attention these days. This program is certainly just in its infancy and over our time, we will certainly continue to track, as we already do, exploration in it the territories, projects moving forward in the territories and, of course, GDP from our mineral projects. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Terry's going to feel very special today because we're all fighting over him, but I'd like to say a warm welcome to my constituent, and we might need some proof of residency now to Mr. Terry Testart. Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to acknowledge Steve Loutitt in the House today. I started my journey with the GNWT as an intern for the Department of Transportation, spent many a days on the tarmac with Mr. Loutitt, including the year where a missile hit the golf course. What a time to start in communications. But very much my best memories of him were certainly at...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm certainly always happy to have conversations, always happy to pass along the messages from the House, and certainly very interested in learning what the future of literacy programming looks like in the territory and working very hard on that. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is most definitely an easy commitment because I've previously made it to the Member for Yellowknife North. Absolutely. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, there -- the way that we shifted the criteria, based on our reduction in allotments this year, was to really focus on those individuals who had expiring work permits in 2025. And I appreciate the Member bringing forward the concern around people who have work permits expiring at the beginning of 2026, especially given that it was February before we launched this program.
What we're doing with our stakeholder partners is spending time this year and really focusing on if we do have consolidated numbers going forward in 2026 -- we don...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day here, we're talking about people, and this is a very, very emotional subject for people who live in the territory. 99 percent of the people who are part of our nominee program are people who are already living in the Northwest Territories, and people who do apply to the nominee program as -- for those potential spots have to have worked in the territory with an employer already. So those are people that are already living in the NWT, they're contributing to our communities, they are friends, they are neighbours, they are...
