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. So if one of the things that we're relying on in order to meet our targets is for mines to actually shut down but, on the other hand, we're going out, and we're proactively trying to get mines to open up and do more in the Northwest Territories, how are we ultimately going to reach this goal if all of a sudden one of our hands gets what it wants and it has a direct impact on the other hand? So I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how we're actually going to support both development in the Northwest Territories and our energy and climate change goals and...
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The Minister spoke briefly to conversations with the federal government, and I'm wondering if some conversations with the federal government are occurring and hopefully gaining some success in giving us some advanced payments on some of the dollars that we've spent that they know that they're going to be reimbursing us down the road. I know that it sometimes takes years for those payments to catch up. And are these conversations progressing, and would those dollars actually help this situation that we find ourselves in now so that our purse strings aren't...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering to start off if the Minister can confirm what GNWT department is ultimately responsible for climate action mitigation here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so I'm wondering if the Minister can explain in greater detail why we have a need for like, this is different than our normal sups that we get. Normally when we get a sup, it's to pay for something. And this one here, it expands our increases our borrowing limit, and so I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to, in more detail for the public, what that is, why it's needed, and then I'll have more questions after that, please, as a start. Thank you.
Madam Chair, I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I've got about a minute left, and so I'm wondering there's about a hundred units here out of the stock of 2,700, how many are still waiting or in need of major retrofits in order to bring our housing stock out of core need? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The standing committee held a public hearing in Yellowknife on May 31st, 2023. The committee then travelled to Inuvik, Norman Wells, and Deline from June 6th to the 9th, 2023, for further engagement on the bill.
The public hearings in communities were very well attended with empassioned concerns expressed from residents. The committee met with the chief and...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So will this influx of $13 million and major retrofits reduce the wait time for housing in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends the Department of Education, Culture and Employment:
Increase funding and expand professional development opportunities for staff to best support students with disabilities;
Expand the suite of programs and services available to students with disabilities in their home communities; and
Improve data collection as it relates to students with disabilities.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So what I want to be clear about is I am very much in support of dollars going from the federal government directly to Indigenous governments. This is absolutely a good news story. What I think would be very helpful, and would also be a good news story for Housing NWT, is to be very honest about the influx of dollars for housing because they have a role in advocating for that. So they're doing themselves a communication and a public relations favour by ensuring that that information is publicly available and is tracked in these documents. And so what I'm going...
