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, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I'm wondering if the Minister can provide some clarification on how we how we got here and how we intend to not get here again. Times change. Needs of communities and needs of the government, needs of the people of the Northwest Territories evolve, and so does the Minister see procurement as a living process and, if so, how does the Minister intend to ensure that our policies and processes stay current from here on in? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think there's one more person after me. So I'd like to request a really quick speed date with the Minister of ITI.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister is willing to commit to consolidating their procurement policies under one shop and if she will also commit to a shift in focus from a service to government for procurement to service to NWT businesses. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 85)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and I'm sure that this will come up when we talk about main estimates as far as home care supports.
In order for people to be supported by home care policies and to be supported by home care workers, they need to have a home that is suitable to live in and so I guess this is more of a housing question, but I'm just wondering if Health and Social Services is actively working on housing for seniors then with the Housing Corporation, and I guess that that was addressed more specifically with Nunakput than in terms of elders facilities. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Given this Assembly's interest in not only recruiting but also, as the Minister states, retaining our healthcare workers in the Northwest Territories, I'm wondering if the Minister is willing to commit to sharing the results of that survey and also the responses from the Department of Health and Social Services to address them with this House. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that information. I think that there are, you know, a lot of discussions of surveys and collecting information.
And so my next question for the Minister is what were the outcomes that relate to staff morale and staffing issues at Stanton that came out of the surveys and were there any changes from the previous surveys or the exit interviews that were done that were able to be implemented at Stanton. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this Assembly speaks frequently of the need for fundamental change to how our government does business, most notably in how we care for one another. This work is progressing through government renewal, pushes for holistic reviews of income security, and medical travel, and a call for a shift to clientfocused traumainformed wraparound integrated service delivery. This kind of change doesn't get your name on your bridge or a building but is necessary for a prosperous NWT that closes gaps, is equitable, and readies us for growth.
To effectively care for Northerners, we need a...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 85)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it looks like I ended up on your list at the perfect spot because it leads right into my question.
A lot of the information that we are seeing about longterm care facilities coming out, especially postCOVID, are saying just what exactly what the Minister is saying, is that the way to go is home care for care for our Elders and our seniors and prolonged quality of life, especially when you get to stay around family. And in addition to longterm care facilities, which we absolutely need, we some people just need a place to live and some people just...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. It's my understanding that some of the issues that we're hearing about are definitely persistent issues in a lot of our high stress shift work type environments within the GNWT. And so I guess I'm wondering what what information is management within Stanton expecting to hear from the current nursing survey that is different from the one that they've previously heard and how is this time going to be different. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, understandably, Members from this side of the House have been holding the Department of Health and Social Services to task this week in this House, but I just wanted to start off with a thank you today during question period.
My two youngest children were vaccinated against COVID19, and I'm incredibly grateful to the Department of Health and Social Services for that.
One of my jokesters asked me if this was his Christmas present and it's probably not his, but it was definitely mine. So thank you very much for that.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that this is the norm for medical travel, but most medical travel patients aren't travelling for three plus weeks and expected to foot the unexpected bill of thousands of dollars in hotel costs.
What I will also say is that I do have residents in the constituency that I serve who have been reached out by the OBS team and it doesn't seem that the OBS team is able to make decisions on the phone, which I appreciate that this is an evolving situation and is a new situation for everybody. And so I would like Health and Social Services to...
