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, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this commit defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Infrastructure at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, committee wishes to deal with Committee Report 3319(2), Bill 52, Bill 48, and Tabled Document 72319(2), Infrastructure, Housing NWT, Environment and Natural Resources, and Lands. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently 487 former tenants of Housing NWT, and I'd like to point out that only 51 are from Yellowknife, so over 400 former tenants of Housing NWT currently owe about $7.8 million in arrears owed to Housing NWT. These tenants are unable to put their names on waitlists for public housing, and they live in public housing dominated communities. They're unable to access homeownership programs or home repair programs.
How does Housing NWT plan to address these arrears, given the reliance of many communities on Housing NWT public housing and programs...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll be honest, I'm hoping that the information can be provided to the people of the Northwest Territories and not just myself. The principles of arrears collections states that arrears should be forgiven where collection is not possible but elders, not working and without income, are still expected to repay their public housing arrears. So I'm wondering without knowing how many of their residents are elders, how does NWT Housing or Housing NWT, sorry, determine if repayment is not possible from their clients? Thank you
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that the Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Bill 48, Arbitration Act, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The clausebyclause review of Bill 48 was held on October 11, 2022.
Following the clausebyclause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 48, Arbitration Act, as ready for consideration in the Committee of the Whole. This concludes the Standing Committee on Social Development's review of Bill 48. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Speaker, housing has a cyclical effect in the NWT. Where housing is inadequate or unsuitable in small communities, the cost of housing is unaffordable in Yellowknife. Inaccessible housing, housing in disrepair, or simply not enough housing and lack of local resources and employment funnel NWT residents into our territory’s capital. According to the Bureau of Statistics, 17 of our 33 communities lost residents from 2020 to 2021. Housing plays a significant role in supporting community residency and in turn Arctic sovereignty.
Housing NWT maintains a suite of housing programs, including home...
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So as was already noted, last year was a great year with lots of additional investments from the federal government to Housing NWT where they saw revised estimates of $104 million. And so given that at this time last year we didn't know that this was coming, is Housing NWT anticipating working towards the same type of investment in the territory, where they've kind of set that bar and know that hopefully we'll all be able to be seeing the same kind of success next year with revised estimates in the capital plan? Thank you.
