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, 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.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am running out of time, so I am just going to quickly say that one of the things that I am hearing from people in the riding I serve is that there is help needed for smaller fishery businesses to export fish and that they are running into kind of road blocks with the federal government and that they need the added support from ITI to be able to ensure that they are actually able to make some money off that investment that they have.
However, I want to, before I run out of time here, quickly ask about the BDIC. Today, on the floor, we had a conversation about...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am wondering if any of the applications are for outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 66)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'll come back to that question, then, down the road, once the Minister has had some more time to kind of establish answers to those questions. I'm going to move on to the nomination program. I'm wondering if there are any applications in the hopper, so to speak, right now?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Under the same line item of Territorial Police Services Agreement, I notice that there is about a $400,000 increase between last year and this year. I am wondering what the people of the Northwest Territories get for that. Thank you.