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.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment
Statements in Debates
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just want to switch now to page 220. On there, we have the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, which is kind of a status quo budget item, but we do have some changes to that still, which are the site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, the traditional site, which is still sitting there. I assume that this budget item is to support the alternate location for the Yellowknife Visitors Centre. I am wondering if there is a plan to have a budget item for the legacy site of the Yellowknife Visitors Centre, and if so, when we can anticipate that and what the plan is for...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I hear what the Minister is saying, but I do think it's a lost opportunity, especially when the rest of the world is sitting at home with chequebooks waiting to fill their days with something other than Netflix. I'm going to move on, though, to SEED funding. I am wondering how many people took part or took advantage of the bookkeeping support through SEED funding? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am happy to hear that. I am wondering: this past week, the Minister and I spoke in regard to the camping season this year, and I am wondering if there was any movement or further conversation with the department. I believe that was only two days ago, so I understand if the Minister does not have an answer to this but just in regard to a road-trip program for people doing staycations this year.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that this Legislative Assembly calls on the Government of the Northwest Territories to prioritize the review of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation as part of the government renewal initiative; and further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation update its mission statement and policies to reflect its role in social wellness; and furthermore, that Northwest Territories Housing Corporation must...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am ready now. Madam Chair, I see that, understandably so, there is a drop of about $2 million from the tourism and parks budget. I am wondering if, within that line item, ITI is still able to or they have already worked on kind of a robust domestic and international marketing plan for as soon as the borders do open so that we are ready to go and say to people, "Come back." Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It's interesting to me that, as someone who grew up in the North, a number of people who decided to become entrepreneurs, whether or not they're men or women, who I went to high school with. When I talk to people from different communities, people have different parts of their life that they're passionate about, and they want to be able to turn that into a business. I'm wondering if the Minister of ITI would commit to working with the Minister of ECE in order to develop high-school-based business curriculum for NWT students? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I really appreciate that information. My next question is kind of a stretch, but I think it has relevance here. My next question is actually in regard to the surface rights board, which I know is a Lands line item; it is not an ITI line item. It is $303,000 that I learned that a constituent of mine and myself almost made NWT history in almost using it, and I think that that is something that could have been mitigated by improving and formalizing a process, an internal and external process, between Lands and ITI. Right now, somebody can come to ITI, and they...
I am wondering what percent of total BDIC loan funding goes to women entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am seeing that this was contributions in support of Indigenous organizations to prepare and participate in mineral development in their area. I know that the Minister said that this is under program review, but was there no other way that this contribution could have continued in this year in another format while the program was being reviewed, to continue to invest in mineral development? Thank you.
Business is critical to the success of the North. There is opportunity for success in every single one of our NWT communities. Canada set its own International Women's Day theme of Feminist Recovery, but let's not just support recovery; let's inspire, aim higher, invest more, and leverage dollars that invest in women. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
