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 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services expedite the application approval and reporting requirement process of the On the Land Healing Fund to uphold Indigenous governments and organizations selfdetermination and ensure allocation of annual funds. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment review and amend the career and education advisor job description to recruit Indigenous persons in these positions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, yesterday during Committee of the Whole's review of Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, I had too much to say and ran out of time. So I am thankful for this added time.

Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that increases the cost of living for NWT residents is not what we want. But that is not why we are here. This bill does not decide if we want a carbon tax or not. The federal government imposed the carbon tax on January 1st, 2019, and only the federal government can choose to get rid of the carbon tax. This bill is to decide who will administer the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be very, very short. Does the GNWT plan to identify positions that can and should be staffed by Indigenous language speakers? Right now there are some French specific positions within the GNWT. There might also be a small number of Indigenous language specific positions but there's not a large number of them. And I'd like to know if the GNWT plans to be a lot more proactive in identifying positions where they'd like to see Indigenous language speakers and grow them in those positions. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, in the work that committee did, I'm sure people have noticed by now that not everything in this report is solely focused on housing. And a lot of this work we wanted to be preventative and wanted to go upstream. And so we can't have a motion that speaks to safe housing in regards to family violence without going upstream as well and ensuring that healing is also supported there and so that's what this really speaks to. And I look forward to seeing the government's response on this. I know that this has been an issue for both the 18th and 19th...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that Housing Northwest Territories develop a supportive community housing strategy focused on youth and youth aging out of care. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report in 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, this is a good start but to reverse the decline of Indigenous language communities, the GNWT needs to do so much more. One key area for improvement is around the bilingual designation policy. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan talks about celebrating and recognizing employees speaking an Indigenous language but there's no reference to modernizing the bilingual designation policy, including to ensure that employees who speak or are learning their language are properly remunerated. So...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services lead the development of TSLGBTQIPA+ guidelines for emergency shelters, transitional housing, and nonprofit organizations providing housing and homelessness prevention supports by the 20232024 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services expand the eligibility for projects under the community suicide prevention fund to include sports, arts and recreational programming; culture, language and on the land programming; and informal elder/respected community memberyouth mentorships. Thank you, Madam Chair.