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.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I was really happy to hear my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh question the Minister in regard to increasing interest in the trades. It was nice to hear that the Department of Education is working towards getting kids excited about working in the trades, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of us in the Northwest Territories start our families quite early and end up with children maybe younger than the national average. I had had my first child when I was 23. What I'm wondering...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much. I'm going to switch gears here a little bit and talk about waste management a little bit because we sat with ENR yesterday and talked about our responsibility as a government to look toward including waste management and disposal of construction material when we're doing buildings in the Northwest Territories. Does the Housing Corporation have a waste management plan for the buildings that they produce within their communities, or do they have an expectation of waste management for contractors whom they hire to do that work? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start off today by acknowledging the hard work done by the Legislative Assembly's public relations group, who have made sure that our interpreter booths are generally quite full. Interpreters are a huge part of our family here at the Legislative Assembly and are part of our day-to-day operations in the House. They are a very important part of the day-to-day operations in this House. Language preservation is important. Language allows us to see the world differently, to open up our interpretation of the world around us, and to re-evaluate the way we are...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Is there a staff member within the Housing Corporation currently that liaises with CMHC and creates that relationship, and, if so, what division are they found in? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The next line item is finance and administration, and then the third is financial planning, which was broken away from finance and administration. I'm wondering if you can explain what is encompassed in that line item, please?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 16)
Thank you, Madam Chair. We've seen some local retailers stop using plastic bags on their own accord and have just gone to reusing cardboard boxes or just insisting that the only option for people is to bring their own bag. In terms of the single-use plastic bags, is that something that our government would like to jump on sooner rather than later, and work with retailers to end that practice? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 16)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. How has ENR leveraged the on-the-ground expertise of different private businesses in order to help solve some of the landfill challenges in some of our remote communities? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 16)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Transportation plays a large role in the Northwest Territories when it comes to taking care of our land and our environment, and we have both trucks that come into our communities that are road-accessible, that come in generally full and leave empty. We also have MTS, which barges in product to our communities, and sometimes leaves empty.
Does ENR currently work with Infrastructure to see how we can make sure that we are leveraging these transportation means effectively, to make sure that nothing is going back empty and to also make sure, if there is potential...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 16)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Is that strategy specific to this project as a pilot right now, or is it a blanket strategy that will apply to all procurement contracts that go out from the GNWT going forward? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table "Virtual Care, Recommendations for Scaling Up Virtual Medical Services, Report of the Virtual Care Task Force, February 2020." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
