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. So, Mr. Speaker, we were able to make some changes over at Education, Culture and Employment in 2023. At that time, we were able to do some exempting of income. That included monies from selfgovernment agreements, treaty agreements, land claim agreements, and impact benefit agreements. That also included compensation from residential school settlements, Indian Day School settlements, and 60s Scoop settlements. Also monies received on behalf of Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative and agricultural benefits from Indigenous governments, as well as...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 2)
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize not a Member of Kam Lake but somebody who helps me take care of Kam Lake, and that's Leslie Straker, who is my constituency assistant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how the thresholds are currently set up, they're divided into three separate zones, and these zones take into account the size of the communities and where the communities are located within the Northwest Territories. So, for example, zone 1, which is where Behchoko is located, has an income threshold of $56,000 versus a community like Gameti, which is zone 2, which has a threshold of $64,000, and zone 3, which, for example, has communities like Wekweeti, has a threshold of $73,000. But I really welcome the conversations with the Member and...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you very much to the Member for the question. There was an increase to the seniors home heating subsidy that was recently done, and that was able to ensure that seniors receive up to 80 percent of the estimated 2023 fuel costs associated with heating a home in the Northwest Territories. And so there was an increase that was recently done, and the intent of the policy is to cover up to 80 percent of the fuel costs on average of Northwest Territories seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. There was a lot of excitement in August when this announcement was made and, unfortunately, these changes to the programs have been delayed due to some systems issues that are outside the department's control, and we're currently working with the Department of Finance to resolve these. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by just reflecting on the words of hope and collaborative leadership and also words of eagerness to get to work that we've heard here today from multiple colleagues. I share in that sentiment, and I am glad that that sentiment continues today throughout our statements.
I want to start off by thanking the residents of Kam Lake who, without their confidence, I would not be standing here today, and I am very grateful for their confidence in my ability to serve them for another four years.
You know, when we talk about serving our...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 1)
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge a page that we have working here with us today as well. We have Kam Lake resident Leah Yakeleya Kosloski here with us today. And thank you to the pages who have joined us.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 80, Dental Hygienists Profession Statutes Amendment Act, be read for a third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by honouring all of the artists who gave me permission to purchase and honour their work in this House. Mr. Speaker, I stand in front of you today wearing the same earrings that I wore my first day in this House. These earrings are vintage beads set one by one in tanned moose hide by local artist Jessie Lafferty. Jessie's work is pristine, with focused and deliberate skill. In every design, stitch, and finished piece, she carries the mastery of her great grandmother who passed her skills to Jessie. Art is beautiful, but it is far more than a thing of...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my parting Member's statement is a gift to interpreters. It is going to be both slowly spoken, and it is going to be brief.
To the next Assembly, I wish you a long and uncomfortable priority setting exercise because that will hopefully mean that you land with less priorities than this and previous Assemblies. We often get lost in the weeds thinking that priority setting is an exercise to outline what the government does for every single item we want to see some form of growth on. But it isn't. It is a question of what you want your collective legacy to be.
