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, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022.
Bill 57 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 20th, 2022 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On February 13th, 2023, the standing committee held a public hearing and clausebyclause review of the bill with the Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, can the Minister comment on whether or not they have been successful at securing the thirdparty provider for the Inuvik shelter? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So in the 20232024 Main Estimates, which one of those positions are no longer reflected in the 20232024 Main Estimates, because I see that there is about a $2 million difference between the revised estimates and then this year's main estimates. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So just to confirm, this is work that will begin right away on the part of the housing corporation and not wait for another fiscal year to begin? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, earlier last week, I had the opportunity to speak on the floor of the House with the Minister of housing in regards to strategic data collection and analysis by the department of housing. And both in terms of their clientele but also in terms of homelessness in conjunction with the homelessness prevention strategy and being able to use data collection as a means for further prevention. And so I'm wondering if that work would come out of the executive or where the funding for the hardware and software to be able to do this would come from? Thank...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, that is even for all of those places, and I understand that this is not the only funding pot because I believe Salvation Army also receives money from elsewhere. But if you take out Salvation Army, which we really shouldn't because it is still an emergency shelter, but if you take that out and you have the five remaining shelters in communities, or even if you take out YWCA, one of them, you have about $600,000 for each shelter to work with. It's not enough money to operate shelters notwithstanding the point either that that means we've got...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So just so that I can get this straight, no NGO could afford to operate a shelter at the budget they were given by the housing corporation, so everybody walked away from the table. So housing corporation stepped in and said we are going to operate this shelter because we need a shelter in Inuvik, and the cost of doing that properly is $2 million. So now the government has come back and said it is too expensive to operate a shelter in Inuvik, we're going to get a third party to do it, and we're going to give them a quarter of what we spent in order to operate...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I think this is an excellent program and a really big opportunity for northern students.
One of the things that I also mentioned today in my questions was summer students. Summer is coming. Now is the time where summer students are hired. And I would also like to see an effort on the part of the GNWT to also make sure that summer students are being hired across the Northwest Territories. And so will the Minister of education also commit to talking to his colleagues about ways to make that happen? Thank you...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, that line item has not grown. So in 20222023, it was $2,997,000 and then again in this year it is holding steady at the same amount. And so I do not see an increase of the $2 million that was originally in executive earmarked for the Inuvik shelter. And so I'm wondering why there's no increase if the Inuvik shelter is now coming out of that emergency shelter's pot found under homelessness initiatives? Thank you.
