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. So I wanted to start off on the travel line item. I see that there was a slight decrease to travel for this item. I'm wondering who within this key activity is doing the most travel? And so with this travel, given what line items are here, would this be mostly interritory travel and why the decrease? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Sitting on the Standing Committee for Social Development, we definitely get to spend a lot of time with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment because they do have a lot of legislative initiatives that they are working on. There are a lot that we are also anticipating, seeing one of which was the Education Act. Does the addition of one staff give them the human resources that they need to push this work forward? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I see that there's one additional staff member for corporate management. Can the Minister inform us as to where that staff member is going?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)
Thank you very much, Madam I can't see I don't have a light anymore so I can't oh, okay, there we go. Thank you. Not sure what light I was looking for. Thank you very much. And my apologies to the interpreters for jumping the gun there.
And I appreciate that the government is going currently back to the feds to work on some agreements for those charging stations. I do note that the investment in energy section of the main estimates has come down by about $4 million. Looking on the next page, I see that that's from the reductions to the Low Carbon Leadership Economy Fund. And the concern...
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. No, I think I'm I think I'm I think I'm good. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Further to that line of questioning, I see here there's nothing budgeted for 20222023. Are there no ongoing costs for the Tulita Solar Project? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Building infrastructure in the NWT is very, very expensive, and childcare facilities are not immune to the costs of building. And so I know that using existing structures, infrastructure, especially in smaller communities, is key. So I'm wondering if the Minister knows if the policy work to be able to run licensed day homes out of public housing has been completed? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My next question is in regards to utilities found on the same page. I notice that utilities is not seeing an increase in the 20222023 Main Estimates. And given the increase that we have seen in all costs, especially utility costs, I'm wondering why there's no increase to that line item for the 20222023 Main Estimates? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm wondering if the Minister can and I know that this is slightly out of scope of the budget a little bit, but maybe not so much. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to what kind of work the Indigenous Languages and Education Secretariat does with ITI as far as their film division and building Indigenous languages into films coming out of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if Health and Social Services will commit to establishing navigator or case worker positions within the adult diagnostic clinic to provide that individualized personal and centered supports that their clients need? Thank you.
