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.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment
Statements in Debates
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, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every evacuation story is different. Residents had access to different levels of public or personal support, and sometimes it came down to where they stood in a line. The government supplied air charters for residents to leave and return to the territory and, because of this, will not reimburse evacuation airfare costs. But the finer details of accessing those flights matter.
Yellowknife's evacuation day buzzed with evacuation rumors that Regular MLAs were never able to verify. By 9 a.m., multiple NGOs were told to move their clients because of the impending...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm also seeing in this capital acquisition plan points for or calls for things like dual seat firebosses, which is an aircraft. It calls for fire engine types, and looking at the summer we just had and the incredible support that we had from other places both nationally and internationally, I'm wondering if these are items that the GNWT also loans out or rents out to other places down south, or if we also send our crews south as well, looking at the support that we had here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 163)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, given the conversation we've just had now about the importance of schools in communities, the fact that we heard, you know, even during the Premier's Member's statement about how this has truly been an Assembly where we have gone from crisis to crisis to crisis, what is the intent, then, of the Department of Infrastructure what are their intentions of how to keep these very important projects moving on time and moving to a state of completion? Because to get a project like this done in five years is not timely. It's not realistic for a community...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee report 5919(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Review of Bill 77: Nursing Profession Act, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 5719(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Review of Bill 65: Builders' Lien Act, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2023.
Bill 94 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on June 2nd, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On June 29th, 2023, the standing committee held a clausebyclause reading with the Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2023, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 75, Council for Women and Gender Diversity Act.
Bill 75 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 9th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. On June 28th, 2023, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Also in attendance was the board of the Status of Women Council of the NWT. Committee received one written submission from the Northern Mosaic Network. Committee heard from...
