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. Madam Chair, the next thing that I wanted to talk about really quickly was the Indigenous languages broadcasting line item which is found on page 37. It's been a stagnant number for a number of years now at 878. And the reason I wanted to point this out is in looking at different ways that different areas or different areas of the world have been able to do language revitalization, one of the places that was able to have quite a lot of success was Hawaii, and they found about 50 years ago that they had lost quite a bit of language speakers and, through radio...
Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The NWT is definitely not alone in that. When looking for data and research worldwide, it's definitely the stigma around FASD is definitely shared and by having these conversations, I think we can do our part to try and strip away that stigma.
I'm wondering if part of the adult FASD clinic identifies whether or not the person taking part in the clinic is a parent? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, FASD is similar to trauma in that it changes the way a person responds to the world around them and how they fit within it. People with FASD require some of the same supports as a person who has experienced traumas.
Mr. Speaker, there is limited research available about FASD prevalence and even less research available on parenting with FASD. In studies I did find, less than 50 percent of children to parents with FASD were in the care of their parent. Parents with FASD are more likely to experience homelessness, domestic violence, and substance abuse.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, just in regards to the Education Act, that was one piece of legislation that we had anticipated seeing in the 19th Assembly. Can the Minister speak to the new timeline that ECE is working toward completing that work by? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I think without even seeing the number, that we can all probably agree that housing people on an emergency basis is generally far more expensive per person than it is to keep people housed, which is what I'm looking the question I'm looking to answer there with that number.
And so I want to just kind of put in a plug here for the work that is being done by the Housing Corporation as far as renewing their mission, vision, values, and the policies that go with that, and what I'm hoping that we see is a system that values keeping people housed over evictions...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm going to start off by turning the page. And so we've got about $4.2 million in homelessness initiatives across the NWT. I'm wondering if the Housing Corporation has a number of people that that serves? That might be too detailed for right now but if it is, I'm willing to wait for the answer as well. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I appreciate the comments on both Friday and today from my colleague from Frame Lake in regards to funding for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. And one of the things that was said on Friday struck me. It was in regards to the process for requesting funding from the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the process of budgeting for the government, which is where the Housing Corp sticks to the standard of budgeting that is expected of them for the main estimates process and that they're essentially playing by the rules for the government...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I do admit that I'm sometimes longwinded when I try to ask a question. That, I will take as a pointer for the Minister. Thank you.
But the point I'm trying to make is that we have a responsibility or the GNWT has a responsibility to provide options for mental wellness so that our mental health professionals aren't overburdened and how can we support as a wholeofgovernment approach mental wellness in communities.
For example, the government has the child and youth mental wellness action plan, and within that, there is an objective in there to support...
