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.
Some of the regulations and laws that contain kind of those hidden moments or hidden pieces of systemic racism are often ones that we often overlook and have been in our system for decades. I'm wondering: what work is being done right now to dig those out and make sure that all of those pieces of legislation and pieces of policy work are being used on that lens because a lot of the programs that are getting that lens are new programs? What are we doing about our old existing programs?
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier. My first question is: what is this government currently doing to address the problem of systemic racism? Thank you.
I am very excited to hear about the Indigenous framework that the GNWT is currently working on, but does this mean that there is currently no direction given to deputy ministers currently sitting at the heads of departments, waiting for this framework to be established?
Madam Speaker, on Monday, I spoke of the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on women. When I asked the Premier what an Indigenous feminist approach to social and economic recovery would look like, she responded that there would not be a one-size-fits-all approach and that each community would be empowered to determine what that looks like. This is good news, but it does not explain what steps the GNWT is taking to make changes regarding the bills it sponsors, the regulations it develops, the programs and services it delivers directly to the residents of the Northwest Territories, and how...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier. I am wondering if the Premier can tell me what specific direction she has given to the deputy ministers of each GNWT department to support building a representative workforce. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. This past spring, the GNWT committed to a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls for justice action plan. I am wondering if the GNWT's plan will include an internal focus to shift the internal culture of the GNWT. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I too, would like to support this. I believe that the intent of this motion is different than the last and the messaging is different than the last. I think that is important. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 48)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I am wondering if Cabinet is willing to publish a list of exemptions to the public health orders that are happening across the Northwest Territories, of course, leaving out people's personal information, but just so that people across the Northwest Territories can see what types of exemptions are happening, both in the business community and for personal individuals, as well. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 48)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. One of the things I hear quite often from both the business community and from constituents is that they feel that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Unless they are willing to be the one who stands up and says, "This isn't fair. My neighbour got this," or, "This isn't fair. This other business got this," or, "Somebody else is getting this type of exemption," when it comes to businesses, that's a big deal. That means that somebody else is able to pay their bills, whereas somebody else isn't because they didn't realize that they were able to go back to the Chief...
