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, I know I've had numerous conversations with the Minister about this and at this point, I'm thankful that the Minister still answers my phone calls. But I'm not done having this conversation.
Mr. Speaker, I get that the government had evacuation flights. Those evacuation flights weren't available on Thursday. There was extreme environmental factors that heightened peoples' fear; and people were being told the fire's going to be here by the weekend, you need to do what you can to get out. Then they sat in those lineups, and they were not put on...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I might get in trouble for this one, but I'd like to recognize Kevin Whitehead who started as a Kam Lake resident, moved to Yellowknife South, and we just got him back. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I just have a couple questions about this section. But I figured I should start off by thanking Dr. Kelly for her service during this absolutely insane wildfire season, so thank you very much.
My first question is in regards to the fact that these capital estimates are generally developed by departments well in advance, and I think they're done in, like, April or May if I'm right. I might be wrong on that one. But they're done they're not done in the middle of summer. And so I'm wondering if based on our wildfire season if the department sees any...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Yeah, thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, just quickly, then, so if the students are still going to be without the completion of the school for another school year, what is the interim solution from this government for yet another school year? What is the interim solution of what they're going to do with kids? I know that my colleague mentioned portables. And we've heard that on the floor of this House numerous times. And so is that an option that they're looking at for this school year?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And thank you to my colleague from Nunakput for painting a picture, you know, life on the ground in Tuk.
We as the Standing Committee of Social Development had the opportunity to be hosted in the community of Tuktoyaktuk by the Member in June of this year. And what we saw was a school gymnasium that was not useable by community members because it was literally the entire gym was covered in a tarp in order to protect the work that was going on underneath it. But that meant that kids weren't allowed to use it. My perspective on this project is different because I...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's one side of things. The other side is the reentry flights. The reentry flights where people literally sat and waited. Some people have never heard back. They needed to get back for work. And in some cases, like I said in my Member's statement, if people didn't get home they lost their jobs, their permanent residency in this country was going jeopardized, the fact that they needed some people to get home for safety reasons. I mean, there's a multitude of nuances. And the other part of that is that the airlines on the way home were also...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Yesterday I started questioning the Minister in regards to reimbursing residents for airfares incurred during evacuation. And I'd like to continue those questions today.
As I explained today during my Member's statement, some residents tried unsuccessfully to use the government charters, and some also thought when they were leaving on commercial flights that they were aiding the evacuation efforts of the Government of the Northwest Territories. And so I'd like to ask the...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So what I heard there is that if somebody has registered with the Red Cross and they still had to pay for their own hotel that they can come back to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and seek compensation for the cost of those hotels. And I'm wondering if the Minister can please let me know if I'm right on that, and also who they would contact in order to get that done. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 162)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 77, Nursing Profession Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 28th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister of Health and Social Services in Yellowknife on May 10th, 2023.
Through public engagement, stakeholder submissions were received from the Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the Canadian Nurses Protective Society, and a practicing NWT registered nurse...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to continue on my colleague's question my colleague from Frame Lake's question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs in regards to the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement policy through the federal government.
My first question is in regards to airfare, Mr. Speaker.
So here in Yellowknife, the language that was coming out from the government was if you can get yourself on a commercial flight, get to the airport, get on a flight, get out of town, please leave as soon as you possibly can. And so numerous residents did...
