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. 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.
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.
