Caitlin Cleveland

Member Kam Lake

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.

Kam Lake Electoral District

Committees

Kam Lake
Constituency Office
Phone
Minister's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Phone
Extension
11124
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we heard yesterday a very honest portrayal of where the Northwest Territories is in its production of alternative energies and how also the low water levels this year are having an impact even on what's happening right now with our current energy usage. Right now we have a huge dependency still on fossil fuels in the Northwest Territories, and that's only going up with our low water levels. And so I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how this additional usage of fossil fuels, even in this year, is going to have an impact on our climate...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Yeah, thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, and I know that this has been a very difficult Assembly and, as such, that's reflected, I suppose, in the requests for increases to the borrowing limit. And so in the life of this Assembly, this is our third now request for increases to the borrowing limit, and I'm wondering what is this government going to do in order for us to see, or for the next Assembly to see, more money in surpluses and to be able to kind of be a little bit more prepared for additional dollars in emergencies because we know that we're going to see more in the years to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, climate action is reconciliation. We're on the heels of a dry summer season of record heat and wildfire in many parts of the world spurred by a rapidly warming planet and marked by a significant absence of global climate action ambition. Yesterday we heard an excellent synopsis of this government's persistence to overpromise and under deliver on climate action and the grim reality of the progress of energy alternatives. Globally, Indigenous people protect 80 percent of the world's biodiversity but account for less than 5 percent of the global population...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Madam Chair, I move that this committee defer further consideration of Tabled Document 97319(2), 20242025 Capital Estimates, at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.

Bill 94 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on June 2nd, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On June 29th, 2023, the standing committee held a clausebyclause reading with the Minister of Justice.

Madam Chair, the committee reports that Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023 is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every evacuation story is different. Residents had access to different levels of public or personal support, and sometimes it came down to where they stood in a line. The government supplied air charters for residents to leave and return to the territory and, because of this, will not reimburse evacuation airfare costs. But the finer details of accessing those flights matter.

Yellowknife's evacuation day buzzed with evacuation rumors that Regular MLAs were never able to verify. By 9 a.m., multiple NGOs were told to move their clients because of the impending...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm also seeing in this capital acquisition plan points for or calls for things like dual seat firebosses, which is an aircraft. It calls for fire engine types, and looking at the summer we just had and the incredible support that we had from other places both nationally and internationally, I'm wondering if these are items that the GNWT also loans out or rents out to other places down south, or if we also send our crews south as well, looking at the support that we had here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, given the conversation we've just had now about the importance of schools in communities, the fact that we heard, you know, even during the Premier's Member's statement about how this has truly been an Assembly where we have gone from crisis to crisis to crisis, what is the intent, then, of the Department of Infrastructure what are their intentions of how to keep these very important projects moving on time and moving to a state of completion? Because to get a project like this done in five years is not timely. It's not realistic for a community...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So this project, the Mangilaluk School, will be done November 1st, 2023, in its entirety? Can that be confirmed, please.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. I appreciate the acknowledgement that Cabinet will take some time to discuss this.

Mr. Speaker, it's one of those things where absolutely there was charter flights that were going out. But there was also other people who did help the evacuation and the reentry process by putting themselves on flights, and people did what they had to do in order to be compliant with the order in order to be safe. I acknowledge that this might in turn be a substantial cost for the government, but this is a cost that the government is much better...