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.
Mr. Speaker, so applicants with an expiring work permit in 2024, as I said, we're still able to submit their applications to the nominee program and are being assessed within the queue based on that priority. Applicants who have not been able to apply because of the pause that was put in place will be able to apply when the program opens up in January of 2025 again. So in acknowledgement of the increase to applications that we have received, Education, Culture and Employment is doing what they can to ensure they have a full complement of staff in order to...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in short, yes, absolutely. This is our first time -- 2024 will be our first time ever filling our quota for the nominee program in the Northwest Territories. We have requested an increase, and this is similar to other jurisdictions across Canada. We've requested an increase from 300 to 500. In the meantime, I can also -- and sorry, while we have not heard back from the federal government on that one, I intend -- I am expecting to hear back from them by the end of the year. And I could also confirm for the Member that we have asked about an...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the information of dates at my disposal or at my fingertips right at this time, but I would be happy to follow up with the department and ensure that I get that back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is really looking at supporting children for increased education outcomes, especially in small communities and across the territory, from a holistic sense. And so that's everything from ensuring that we are doing certifications for early learning and childhood operators, so our daycare and day home operators, and ensuring they have the supports they need when they're supporting our children from zero to age 4. Implementing the BC curriculum, and so that is our school aged children, from there...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to be clear, there are no additional PD days being allotted. One of the agreements that was made -- or STIP days. One of the agreements that was made with education bodies was to allot time from their existing professional development days and dedicate it towards the implementation. So while I absolutely hear the Member, I do want to share that some education bodies have come forward and have said that, you know, this is how they are implementing the new curriculum, these are some of their success stories, these are how they're participating in...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the question is how much money is going specific to -- or specifically to education bodies for the task of implementing the new curriculum, the answer to that question is there is no funding allotment specifically for this. The reason being is that the education bodies are already funded for curriculum coordinators within schools and support coordinators, and they're also already funded within the school funding formula for evergreening material as well within our school systems. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that would be a hard one to predict. I know that we did receive more applications than our allotment this year. It wasn't a completely unmanageable amount, so I was hoping to see an increase to our allotment in this calendar year to be able to continue to receive those applications and to process them. I would expect that if our allotment remains the same that we would expect to see a similar number of applications come through in the Northwest Territories, if not a little bit more, because of changes that are happening to the program down south...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, temporary measures that the Yukon joined allows the Yukon nominee program to support the extension of work permits for applicants in their assessment queue that they currently have and who have work permits that expire in 2024. One of the things that we did here in the territory is that we prioritized those applications in 2024 and expect to be able to work our way through them in this calendar year. So the Government of the Northwest Territories did look at the option and opt in program that Yukon is currently partaking in but decided that...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every moment that I have had the opportunity to spend in the Tlicho region has been nothing short of incredibly rewarding. I appreciate the time that the Member has invited me and I have gone, and I would absolutely love to accept. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd love the opportunity to sit down and discuss in great lengths and details why the differences exist for small communities. There's often been differences that exist between our cities, our regional centres, and our small communities, and the efforts that are at play here in order to increase the equity between them. It exists in the programs that I have laid out here and in the increased supports. So one of those increased supports as well is affording training to classroom assistants to ensure that in small communities the people who are on...
