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 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I think without even seeing the number, that we can all probably agree that housing people on an emergency basis is generally far more expensive per person than it is to keep people housed, which is what I'm looking the question I'm looking to answer there with that number.
And so I want to just kind of put in a plug here for the work that is being done by the Housing Corporation as far as renewing their mission, vision, values, and the policies that go with that, and what I'm hoping that we see is a system that values keeping people housed over evictions...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm going to start off by turning the page. And so we've got about $4.2 million in homelessness initiatives across the NWT. I'm wondering if the Housing Corporation has a number of people that that serves? That might be too detailed for right now but if it is, I'm willing to wait for the answer as well. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 98)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And I appreciate the comments on both Friday and today from my colleague from Frame Lake in regards to funding for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. And one of the things that was said on Friday struck me. It was in regards to the process for requesting funding from the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the process of budgeting for the government, which is where the Housing Corp sticks to the standard of budgeting that is expected of them for the main estimates process and that they're essentially playing by the rules for the government...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I do admit that I'm sometimes longwinded when I try to ask a question. That, I will take as a pointer for the Minister. Thank you.
But the point I'm trying to make is that we have a responsibility or the GNWT has a responsibility to provide options for mental wellness so that our mental health professionals aren't overburdened and how can we support as a wholeofgovernment approach mental wellness in communities.
For example, the government has the child and youth mental wellness action plan, and within that, there is an objective in there to support...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that there are a lot of expectations on all of us right now, especially educators and mandating something like that, through maybe a ministerial directive, can be a tall ask sometimes. But when the when the repercussions of not doing it are far too great, when the repercussions of not using informed language are far too great, sometimes making that extra step to mandate something is worth it and is important.
Even here in the Assembly, as busy as all of us are, especially our ministerial colleagues, we took the time together to do a...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can define "significant uptake" and if the Minister is willing to work with school boards to mandate this training for educators who work in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for challenging each of us to celebrate the UN's Indigenous language's decade.
I came into this job with a love and appreciation of the power of language. I believe language to be a tool to see the world different at a time when we desperately need a new lens. But language is more than a lens.
Over the last two years, I have had the opportunity to meet many new people. When I reflect on some of the commonalities between the stories people have shared, language revitalization has been an...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 97)
I'll just ask one question instead of the three I snuck in there. No, the Canada Housing Benefit I'll ask about in another section. My question was specific to the rent supplement leasing and the increase to that, and can the Minister please speak to what that increase is getting, if it's getting more leases to more units in the territory through market rent? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 97)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. In response to that, then, does the NWT Housing Corporation intend to put forward a costed measurable plan as to how they are going to address the declining CMHC funding, which as I understand, are able to be offset by the bilateral funding agreement until 20272028. So it gives them a little bit of time to come up with that plan. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 97)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, my next question is in regards to how this will impact the rest of the housing stock.
So we have these new units coming onboard, and we have funding secured through FMB for that. Does this mean that more existing units will then come out of the public housing stock and be transferred into homeownership? And if so, what number is projected to come out of the public housing stock this year in response to that? Thank you.