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. Mr. Speaker, the Member is right; they're not social workers but they do a very good job at the work that they do and they're very committed to the work that they do. They are committed to making sure that they let residents know what opportunities there are because there are other people in communities and other people within departments who do have things like access to the programs that I spoke about and who also have access to different workshops that are happening in communities. So, for example, Prosper NWT has delivered workshops to over 150 people last...
Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, this work is already being done. I would say that it is not potentially conversations that are happening in public realms, but I can assure the Member that conversations around different avenues to access student housing are occurring with the board of governors, specifically with the chair and with the president. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess I should start off thanking Members for giving me this area here to champion the college on a regular basis here in the House. I do see transformation of Aurora College as an incredible opportunity for the territory because our students deserve to have quality access to great programs, and that is part of the transformation, is the programming as well.
Given the arm's length relationship with Aurora College, I have met with the board of governors on a regular basis and have reiterated to the chair, but also the entire board, that when they...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are some community learning centres which are leased within communities and some where the infrastructure's owned by the GNWT. So in instances where it is leased by the Government of the Northwest Territories for the purpose of a CLC, the lease will be terminated. And in the instance where it is owned, we have been -- we have had outreach from Indigenous governments, communities, and organizations, and they've been in contact with both ECE and Aurora College, and they've let known what their interests are in some of those facilities. Now, of course...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that, yes, operating as a college requires that the institution be established in legislation. And as far as timelines, it really depends on how that work progresses and so I would love to report back on that progress to the Member. But currently, there is a quality assurance process that must be undertaken, and ECE is working closely with Dechinta through this process. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly pull that back up for the Member. We did all receive an email that spoke directly to that. I just don't have it immediately at my fingertips right this very second. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am in direct contact with the senior staff of education, culture and employment seven days a week unfortunately for them, but I very much appreciate how accessible they are. And as soon as I did receive the correspondence from the MLA, I immediately did reach out to the deputy minister because like I did say last year, these relationships are paramount and we want to ensure that the childcare sector is well supported and well informed and has access to answers to their questions. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Canada Energy Regulator's 2023-2024 Annual Report of Activities under the Northwest Territories' Oil and Gas Operations Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Canada-NWT Canada-wide ELCC agreement requires that the GNWT implement a certification system and a wage grid for early childhood educators and also that it achieves the average $10 a day per childcare fees for families in the Northwest Territories. However, the agreement does not define specifics on how the GNWT is to implement the certification or wage grid. That's something that we were able to do here in the territory by meeting with our stakeholders.
The wage grid identifies an hourly minimum that an educator must receive but doesn't set...
