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 18)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I was just looking at the activity description on page 372 that says that the program, development and implementation ensures compliance with existing program policies and procedures and also supplies training and capacity required to effectively and efficiently deliver the programs and services. Does the cost of building the ramps and the cost of hiring people to do those types of home accessibility or home renovation projects all come out of this dollar figure here? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Is the Minister willing to create access to this information or kind of a database, even on their website, of different programs that communities are putting together so that communities are able to work together to take advantage of this funding? A lot of times, there is a need for capacity to be able to, not only put these programs on, but also do the work for the grants that need to be done in order to get the funding. If we have that information readily available for programs that are working, it takes a lot of that work away from communities having to put...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 18)
Thank you very much. I'll take that that it's divided equally by region, so thank you. My next question is in regard to the programs, development and implementation line. That has gone up substantially, and I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to what Northerners will get for that increase in that dollar line. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I heard the number 29. Why are the other four communities not involved in this program? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 18)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm wondering if the Minister can define "evenly." Is it divided evenly based on the five regions, or is it divided evenly based on need? Is it divided evenly based on population? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. That's excellent news. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to the Children and Youth Resiliency Program that is outlined on page 338. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Given that some of these improvements are things that will make, hopefully, units more cost effective to run because they are more efficient, will we end up seeing a difference going forward in the cost of utilities for public housing units? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just in working with constituents, I have noticed that there is some overlap and there are definitely similarities between the information that we collect from people from a housing standpoint, from a health standpoint, from an income assistance standpoint, but very much so from a housing and income assistance standpoint. I am wondering if there is an appetite with housing to work closely with Education, Culture and Employment to make that access and the reporting structures a lot more user friendly for the client. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just in regard to CMHC funding and the declining O and M support, I'm wondering, for a long time, now, we have held the cap of housing units within the Housing Corporation at the 2,800-unit mark. I'm wondering if there is an appetite from the Housing Corporation to review that number and figure out how we could go about increasing the amount of public housing that we do have within the Northwest Territories, because we know that we are not meeting our housing needs currently within the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Would the Minister be willing to sit down with Members from this side of the house and find out ways that we can support potentially growing that space in Fort Smith and put together a universal childcare with the Member for Thebacha so that more people can uptake trades in the Fort Smith area? Thank you.
