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 , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

I was just very impressed by the capacity of my colleague to keep talking.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ITI. I'd like to know how is the value of art sales generated through the NWT arts program tracked. For example, are website analogs tracked and reported, and does the NWT Arts Program currently plan to expand to an ecommerce based platform? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories develop a program to help homeowners access insurance and work with homeowners to keep costs low. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm wondering about timelines. I like to have timelines. So since the department recognizes that the 181.5 million federal dollars flowing to the Canada Arts Council  for the arts, sorry, is not accessible to the territorial government, when will the department commit to reviewing the organizational structure for the NWT arts so that we can make it an arm's length organization. So I know they're looking into it right now. We've just come off of almost two years of the department reviewing an arts strategy. So I'm wondering what kind of timeline are they...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories allow rental allowance to be portable so people can choose where they want to live in housing that meets their needs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Mr. Speaker, our ability to foster art preservation, creation, celebration, and sales is key to our territory's success. Art is far more than a thing of beauty. It connects people to themselves, one another, and tradition. Art is vital to our wellbeing and our shared and individual histories.

According to the NWT art's website, there are 912 registered artists across the territory. The preCOVID estimated economic value of NWT arts is a mere $7.2 million. Comparably, the Yukon arts generated $12.9 million and, inspirationally, BC generated $2.6 billion.

In the last year, social media has become...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories implement homeownership programs with personscentered case management to navigate the complex northern housing environment, including mortgage financing, land tenure and affordable home insurance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories work with community partners to create an indeterminate communitybased preventive maintenance program for homeowners. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories partner with the northern private sector nonprofit and Indigenous governments to develop government lease agreements to support access to financing for the development of housing stock and programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories increase access to titled land to help homeowners and landlords meet financing and insurance obligations in the NWT communities. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 79)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, case studies show that on the failures of infrastructure strategies, the focus is on governance and regulatory regimes that don't keep pace with technical and social capacity or our needs. One example of that, Mr. Speaker, here in the Northwest Territories, is we can say we're sitting at all these table and that we're partnering together and we're really working forward or moving forward in order to make change, but then we can't make policy changes at the basic levels of our departments to make people work together and make our policies work...