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. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if in this work health is reevaluating how and who provides services. Examples of this would be maybe someone with a nursing degree is doing a role that doesn't require a nursing degree. Potentially other provinces and states are currently looking at expanding athome testing kits to include not only HIV but STIs as well. And so is that type of work being done as part of this? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as the territory speaks of transitioning from pandemic to endemic, it’s important that we as Northerners understand what this means. There will be timelines for eased restrictions and the eventual dismantling of the COVID Secretariat. But, Mr. Speaker, I want to understand what it means for the GNWT healthcare system and services to residents. Although an endemic is supposed to mean some stability of transmission, hospitalizations and death, the virus will continue to circulate, and can still be widespread and deadly.
Here in the North we are already familiar with endemic diseases...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering how the department will evaluate the success of these new programs that are providing support in their communities? Thank you.
MS. CLEVELAND: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Justice. Earlier this year the Minister and I spoke in the House about the mens’ new day program, a healing program for men, and we spoke about how that program was set to change.
Can the Minister update the House on the new program for men who choose to use violence in their intimate and family relationships? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd say hugs are cheaper in the North because everybody wants to give them. It's the last day. Well, COVID friendly hugs.
Mr. Speaker, is it possible for NTHSSA to work with the federal government, to even the playing field on immigration across Canada, and perhaps have the Immigration Canada support the NWT's drive for immigration by evening the playing field on the cost of immigration medicals in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that from the Minister, and I really hope that we can get that fixed as far as coordinating with the federal government to have their website changed. It does add uncertainty for people travelling through that process here in the Northwest Territories.
I do find as well that I hear a lot from constituents who, they do contact NTHSSA to book an appointment and what they find out is that there is a lengthy period of time that they have to wait in order to complete that process, and sometimes that puts them too far up against the wall for their...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the strengths sometimes of really good reports are error evaluations, are the anecdotes that come with them so the real life experiences of people in communities. And so more outcomebased and not just outputbased as far as, you know, number of people that participate in workshop, number of workshops delivered, and so forth. And so I'm wondering if the Minister is willing to commit to sharing these evaluations with the Standing Committee on Social Development as they're available? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Minister might remember I already used his words against him in February of this year.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how many or which communities are taking part and what the total budget is now for the program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to revive a discussion started in the 14th Assembly about creating a child and youth advocate for the Northwest Territories.
Children and youth need our special attention and support, particularly when they are being cared for by people other than their immediate families. Since the NWT started discussing this issue in 2003, Yukon has created an advocate office and so has Nunavut. In fact, we are the only of two jurisdictions in Canada without an office dedicated to protecting the rights of children on both an individual and systemic basis as...
