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, Madam Chair. The beauty of the internet is I've now got the annual report in front of me here. And the annual report doesn't tell us what houses in what communities are going to be retrofitted by Housing NWT. It doesn't tell us what communities are going to see new houses. And what I'm thinking of here is that if there are community governments or Indigenous governments that want to get involved in housing and don't have kind of the ability to see where Housing NWT is going, it's hard for them to work in partnership with Housing NWT and to really support that work and to...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
No other questions. Thank you so much.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my next question for the Minister is in regards to the request for a tractor for Hay River. And I just want to understand why a health authority would need to purchase a tractor and have one, I guess, of their own rather than potentially hiring a local contractor who owns a tractor to do whatever they're going to do with that tractor. And I'm just wondering if I can get more information on that. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I know that Regular MLAs will be watching for this to make sure that this does happen because it's really important to both the students and MLAs, that we're able to retain the students who are trained here at Aurora College and have most likely grown up here in the Northwest Territories as well.
Madam Speaker, currently public servants are being denied education leave for nursing as it does not fulfill their home department's mandate within the government. And so I'm wondering if Health and Social Services will work...
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. So Madam Speaker, I agree with the Minister 100 percent. There is much more retention for people raised in the North to stay and to work as nurses in the Northwest Territories. Given that there are 30 seats a year within Aurora College for nursing students, does the Minister know or are they currently lobbying Aurora College to increase the number of seats that are available to nursing students a year, and does Health and Social Services plan to expand the bursary program that they're currently offering to northern students to southern students as well...
Madam Speaker, as other provinces cap recruitment bonuses across the country to reel in new healthcare professionals, NWT healthcare staff waited for the same bait. As of September, the GNWT is now using the labour supplement policy to attract select healthcare professionals with bonuses of $5,000 to $7,000. This is one piece of the GNWT's push to recruit healthcare staff in the wake of a national shortage. But, Madam Speaker, I was surprised that the fall's announcement of recruitment plans for NTHSSA made no mention of one of the NWT's strongest healthcare success tools the Aurora College's...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
Yeah, thank you very much Mr. Chair. I guess in here, and I know this isn't new information to the department, but I think it need to be said, is, especially with the state of the territory right now, our elders and having elders in communities is so important to community members and to the mental health of community members and the mental health of our elders and to the quality of life of our elders. And so I think this is making pathways for elders to be able to age in place is incredibly important, and this is a piece of that puzzle. And so I really do encourage the department to please...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. So I was on the same page, sorry, as MLA Johnson. I won't fully repeat what he has said but my concern is that three out of four of these longterm care facilities are in planning phases. The planning phase is estimated completion of 2025 like, the year that is under estimated completion, that's the estimated completion of the planning phase, is that correct?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. No, I appreciate that. I had visions of nursing staff on top of giant frontend loaders, so thank you for that.
My next question, I'm wondering if somebody can help me out here. I just simply don't know what 1300 BGSM or 1600 BGSM stands for. So I'm just wondering if somebody can help me out with that one. Thank you
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 124)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I guess, first of all, congratulations to MLA Johnson. If you are a Yellowknifer and you don't know street names, it means you're properly acclimatized to be a Yellowknifer.
My question is for the Minister in regards to I just want an idea of why the Department of Health and Social Services is requesting money for a capital project that they don't really have kind of secure handle on what location's going to be used, what design's going to be used, when it will be completed, or what budget they're going to be requesting, given that this does not fall...
