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 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, luckily on this -- well, on both sides of the House, we have great working relationships, and that doesn't stop between myself and the Minister of ECC. We're able to come together, and we're working hard to better understand what the other -- what one another is looking for, where each of our departments is at, and what industry is looking for. So we are meeting on a regular basis to work through some of that. What I will also say, Mr. Speaker, is this is work that's not only being done within, you know, the confines of meeting rooms within the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, one of the things that I have learned very quickly about ITI is ITI is very much a connector department, and so it plays a very strong role with connecting other departments within the GNWT, connecting, you know, grassroots, organic funding like the SEED program, to other funding mechanisms through CanNor and such, by connecting smaller grassroots programming -- or funding programs, like manufacturing funding, SEED funding, you know, even if it's an agriculture microcluster, for example, you've got the SCAP funding. But when it comes to housing...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to give the deputy minister the opportunity to speak in detail about that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in regards to the question specifically about community transfer initiatives that the Member did ask about, I just wanted to first respond to that question. So that question there is an underspend of the vacant economic development officer positions, and so -- and those positions that have traditionally been vacant are in Fort Liard, the Sahtu, and in Tuktoyaktuk. And so however the community transfer initiatives funding does provide about 13 and a half positions through Indigenous governments, especially in our small communities, and those are...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Further to the Member's question, no, that was not a change that occurred in these main estimates. And I'd like to pass it back to the deputy minister.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, not to go on for too long, but I would say that we are working on this strategy every single day. We are supporting currently 42 exploration projects within the territory. We have Pathfinders, a fabulous team of Pathfinders that work every day to make sure that people are connected. We are ensuring that we are including Indigenous governments when those that need funding sources, if they want to join the GNWT at places like PDAC and Roundup, and making sure that we're bringing people together. When it comes to education, we're in the process of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the arts funding from ECE is still seen in the main estimates under ECE for this year. So currently what's happening is the planning of how to do that amalgamation. So you won't see any of those dollars that used to be in ECE in ITI. They are still located in the Education, Culture and Employment main estimates at this time. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it was leveraging from the ratio from last year's mining incentive program, so it would be based on company reporting. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Just give me a moment here on these contributions for film rebate program. Here we are.

So in the 2024-2025, our contributions there are $500,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 24)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, no. And the reason for that is what we're looking at doing is continuing to use this funding but to leverage it to source other funding mechanisms, for example through CanNor as well. There is even a permafrost project that is on the go just outside of Yellowknife here as well. And so there's a ton of opportunity. And not only with CanNor but also with Enercan to be able to combine our budgets together in order to do more. And so that's what this is looking at is how can we use what we have in order to leverage additional funding from the federal...