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, sometimes going to the union can cause a little bit more friction than people are looking for right off the bat. And so I'm hoping that together we can find an alternate solution for staff who want questions and further clarifications. But often the current process means that frontline staff receive far less opportunity for professional development from their colleagues that work in headquarters departments. This is required for nurses who want to gain the experience and the certifications required to work in small remote nursing stations and...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for Human Resources.
Further to my statement today, I'm wondering if the Department of Finance has a clear policy of who can apply and cannot apply for education leave and supports from the GNWT? Thank you.
Committee takes note of the request to allow for sufficient time for meaningful consultation and engagement. Committee will review its public engagement processes to ensure timelines are respectful and sufficient for stakeholders to support meaningful consultation.
Further, committee makes the following recommendation.
The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Aurora College take note of this request that engagement timelines are respectful and sufficient for stakeholders to support meaningful...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 86)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess I'm wondering if this is a straight transfer to transfer or replacement, sorry, to replacement of a 15passenger van or if looking at the reduced number of inmates because of the new or the new act, if there is a need for less vehicle and then a potential savings down the road, or if it is an actual need for that quantity of vehicle. If the Minister can speak to that, please.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm trying to make sure that my colleague from Monfwi has time to ask questions.
Mr. Speaker, the next commitment I'm looking for from the Minister is a better evaluation and picture of the landscape of procurement so that we know that the government is being held accountable and businesses have a clear indication of what is happening with GNWT procurement. I'm very thankful, first of all, to the Minister of Finance actually, with her other hat on, who did produce an infographic of what procurement looks in the Northwest Territories. But what businesses want to...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister sees this as an incremental process where we can see implementation of change as they go, or does the Minister anticipate this happening in one large change at the very end once all of the consultation engagement is done, and can the Minister speak to that process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this sitting, as we work through the capital estimates, the GNWT tabled a procurement policy review. I support infrastructure spending and the economic development it brings. But for your territory to see the benefits of this capital budget, we need procurement that increases benefit retention and grows the NWT private sector through meaningful spending.
While I recognize the GNWT is preparing a response to this report, there are some simple procedural changes that could be implemented immediately to improve fairness and transparency in the procurement...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 86)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just wanted to come back to the conversation around the youth correctional centre and the space that exists there when we typically have, you know, two or three - thankfully, two or three youth in the facility. I'm wondering if the department has at all looked into - because there is a setup where youth can stay at the facility and then leave to go to school or have kind of a I'm sorry, I don't know the proper term but where they are able to leave and come back, if the department has at all look into a situation where youth who are have served their time...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 86)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am very happy that the Member for Yellowknife North started off with the smudge room question because that takes it off my list.
I'm going to start with the three transfer van replacements for NSCC. I'm just wondering why there is a need for three 15passenger vans when there are 55 inmates at the facility. Thank you.
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.
