Member Kam Lake

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.

Kam Lake Electoral District

Committees

Caitlin Cleveland
Kam Lake
Minister's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Extension
11124
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we go out with an RFP to do a complete review of this program in April of this year. And with that, we will do a very robust review of the SEED program with the intent of releasing a new policy next year. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's certainly up to the community, and we're always happy to lend some suggestions and some expertise from our staff, and we can certainly support through a contribution agreement. But ultimately it is up to the community. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my concern is implementing or agreeing to something on the floor of the House without doing my due diligence because in the end, we could end up having our agreement cancelled which costs this territory and families in this territory a tremendous amount of money. We would risk losing our agreement with Canada if we are found to be in contravention of it. So I want to ensure that I'm doing my due diligence before making an $80 million mistake. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. This isn't additional staff. It's additional compensation and benefits through the UNW collective agreement. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, if possible, one of the things that I'm going to do today is swap out different staff when we get to different sections and so maybe we can come back around to that when we get to the petroleum -- minerals and petroleum resources section of the main estimates today. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

No, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can promise this House it was not for lack of trying. As the Member also would have seen in the same news article, we weren't alone in resigning that agreement with Canada. That agreement is to the tune of $80 million over the lifespan of that agreement, and it is very difficult to say no to $80 million that supports families with young children to access childcare.

I absolutely acknowledge what the Member is saying about the fact that there are challenges with that program and the implementation of it in the Northwest Territories, issues that I...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, companies like Dene Fur Cloud are a subsidiary of Prosper NWT so is not counted in that previous area that I identified. So there a number of subsidiaries that Prosper NWT does support, and they are certainly for-profit companies, and Prosper NWT is working with them to continue to develop their business practices. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, that initiative is focused on really investment attraction for critical minerals. This past week, on Sunday night at PDAC in Toronto, we were able to host an event in conjunction with Nunavut and the Yukon, and it was incredibly well attended by both politicians, investment individuals, and business owners. And so we hope to continue to build off that momentum. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 52)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, we had a number of communities evacuated and the -- our parks ended up being used as evacuation spots and ended up seeing a significant increase in incidents in our parks in the territory. Thank you.