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.
I am wondering if the Minister will commit to specifically working on the eviction protocols and policies that the LHAs and LHOs currently work with to evict people who are not paying rent or are not meeting tenancy agreements, to see where Health and Social Services can further support LHOs and LHAs to see housing success for the people of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. My next question for the Minister is in regard to protocols of care for people when they present at the emergency department within the Stanton Territorial Hospital. I am wondering if there are protocols for after-care for people once they do arrive at Stanton Territorial Hospital emergency with mental health challenges and if there is a protocol for either the attending physician or the attending healthcare staff or potentially people within primary care to then reach out to that person and to provide follow-up care. Thank you.
I appreciate that it's a big aspiration and will require an entire culture shift, but I think that there are some pieces that we can start working on right now. I appreciate the Minister laying out some of the ones that they are working on. The City of Yellowknife drafted a homelessness plan, and it indicated a need for coordinated access to front-line services, so I am wondering: how is the Department of Justice creating government-wide coordinated access through common intake and access points to better serve NWT residents? That is so that people are not running from department to...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My knowledge of this program is limited. If I go off script a little bit, please let me know where I do. My understanding is that this is a Youth Ambassador Program where it brings together students from across all 33 of our communities who are interested in leadership and gives youth an opportunity to get to know one another and also to work on leadership projects together. This seems like a really key area for us to be able to find out from youth more information about the state of education, how to support people in communities through education, and it...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Finance Minister said in her 2021 budget address, "Creativity, innovation, and collaboration are key to our success." Fort Good Hope has successfully brought these three pillars together through the K'asho Got'ine Housing Society, a non-profit created to fill the rising need for community-based housing providers that deliver innovative social policy parallel to safe housing infrastructure. The society recognizes the long-term value of supporting housing models that address the needs of residents and has successfully combined housing, social policy, and workforce...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I appreciate that and look forward to further detail on that one. The other line item that I am looking for more information on and how it relates is the youth line item. What, in addition, is included in that line item? I'm assuming that Youth Corps is included in there, and I am wondering if the Minister can provide additional information on that one.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just to echo the messaging from the Member for Nunakput in regards to getting our kids in communities active and making sure that kids have stuff to do, I believe that that is a huge portion of mental health. Mental health is not just having phone numbers for kids to call. Mental health is keeping kids active and making sure that they have things to do in all of our 33 communities. I am a little bit concerned when I look at, for example, the travel line item down below. That's substantially higher than our sport and recreation number up above. I am wondering...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. No, I appreciate that there are different systems out there. I think what I'm asking for the Minister to do is to lobby her colleague at the Department of Finance to put in some added cell towers and make cell service accessible on all of our highways. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. On page 344, there is ground ambulance and highway rescue. The budgeting numbers are the same every year, and the description on that is: "To enhance capacity in the areas of ground ambulance and highway rescue." In different conversations through different committees that we've been able to have with different community groups, ground rescue is something that has come up frequently as a concern for communities, especially ones based on busy highway systems. We've got Behchoko that's on a busy highway system; we've got Hay River, as well, that ends up...