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

Caitlin Cleveland
Kam Lake
Minister's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

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

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that project is projected to be completed within the 2026-2027 school year.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's the programs that I've mentioned that are funded through the literacy council. There's also work that's done through Aurora College on the adult literacy and basic education skills program, and ECE also funds the college to make sure that they're maintaining that curriculum. There's also indirect funding through other departments. For example, health has funded family cooking activities and such, and those have an indirect literacy involvement as well. People are coming together, they're reading recipes together. And so there are also...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So our capital standards were updated in 2020. A lot of our school buildings predate 2020. And our capital standards apply to new builds in the territory that will follow that standard but it doesn't mean that all of a sudden we -- we would never be able to, for example, tear down every school in the territory and start over. So we have to start from somewhere. So the schools that have been built post 2020 would follow those capital standards. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for the operational details of how we collect information from education bodies and Aurora College and etcetera, I would like the opportunity to pass to the assistant deputy minister, please.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we have -- I don't think it's a secret to anybody in this room that we have quite a huge need when it comes to infrastructure across the Northwest Territories and across every single department. A lot of our infrastructure in the territory was built around the same timeframe, and so a lot of it ends up coming due around the same timeframe. And so the demands on our dollars for infrastructure are quite large and traditionally education facilities, be it our JK to 12 education facilities, are the responsibility of the provincial or territorial...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I certainly do -- or am in support of this request and is one that I think is important. For this current year, our -- sorry, our capital projects had already been brought forward for this capital planning process and so we have earmarked this project for further years' consideration. And as people will note, for the projects we have brought forward within our small capital projects, they are largely based on safety and on accessibility across the board. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this project within Sir John Franklin High School is a boiler replacement. The current system within Sir John Franklin is a hybrid system that has both a biomass boiler and a conventional boiler, and this specific project replaces the conventional boiler. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, those were the priorities as identified by Aurora College for housing within their envelope of housing. What I believe that the Member is referring to is the facility's master plan. And the department has included the facility's master plan in its 20-year capital needs assessment and have also ensured that they have put this funding plan forward to the federal government and shared it with them, and the GNWT will continue to work alongside Aurora College on their capital needs as they do come up in their transformation plans. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, again, let me direct that one over to assistant deputy minister MacKay, please.