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
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I cannot stress enough how important ensuring access to education is in our territory. You know, every aspect of our lives is directly related to access to education. And access to education, I can say, is incredibly important to me. We're working certainly very hard within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to address the need to improve the education outcomes of students right across the territory. And I would be happy as well to sit down with the Member and show some of the actions that have taken place over the last, I believe...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Yes, that was part of the redesign.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Absenteeism of our students across the Northwest Territories is a huge issue and has a direct and significant impact on the education outcomes of NWT children in every single community, in small communities, in regional centres, and in Yellowknife. It is one of the strongest ways that we can support our students to succeed is by making sure that they're in school. And it is remarkable -- and I don't have the data with me but I'd be happy to show the Member -- that when a student misses, you know, even a couple of days here and there, it very...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, shortly here I'm going to pass over to my left to ADM Beauchamp. But this is a benefit that low to medium income seniors receive. And the number of seniors that we have in the territory are certainly growing. But through yourself, Madam Chair, may I pass to the assistant deputy minister.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I certainly want us as a territory to be very ambitious and to -- I'd love to see us set targets we know we can't meet and, you know -- that sounds silly, but in the sense that I always want us to be wanting more and wanting to grow bigger and wanting to achieve greater things as a territory together. That said, I know that there is -- we also want to be able to ensure that our goals and our targets are within reach. And so as a Minister, I don't want us to see 570 here and then pat ourselves on the back. As a Minister, I want us to see marketable...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, I want to be clear that Aurora College indicated that they would not be keeping the bricks and mortar facilities open as part of their new plan. They have yet to divulge what their plan will look like going forward.
I also know that myself, along with the Aurora College board and chair, as well as the Aurora College president, will be at a briefing with standing committee I believe next week, next Thursday, and so certainly look forward to sitting with Aurora College as they inform committee of what their plans are.
As far as the dollars, so for...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, one of the things that has happened that has come into play right now is that the Student Financial Assistance program was also improved in the last Assembly at the same time that the income assistance review happened and the income support review. So through -- and the way that the changes happened were increases to basic grants, monthly living allowances, and that also expanded the remissible loan for all residents of the Northwest Territories, and that is a key difference here. Before it was only for students schooled in the Northwest...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Sorry, was the question did the program relaunch itself?
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, that was not my words. I literally said it is not the role of teachers to indoctrinate children. I also, though, did say that I think it is very good and very important if our kids are learning about politics in the classroom and they are learning about critical thinking and they are learning to stand up for themselves. I think that a teacher needs to be fair in how they do that, but I would be more than happy to share any of my other perspectives about parenting with the Member after we're done this today. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, the increases in programming, the bulk of it comes from income assistance, and that is from the review that was done in the previous Assembly on income assistance that separated seniors and persons with disabilities into their own income assistance. And so there was additional funding put in to that and put into income assistance. There was also adjustments made on the market basket measure to ensure that the dollars that Northerners were getting were reflective of the actual costs, for example, of food in the Northwest Territories.