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 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I will pass the floor other to another colleague.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I should get started at ten minutes, not seven; I was hoping you wouldn't notice that.
My next question is in regards to the wage subsidies for SNAP students and apprentices. Are the wage subsidies for SNAP and apprentice students the same? And there's also been talk of wanting to see SNAP students expanded into all the communities in the Northwest Territories. And is this budget built to actually support that type of increase in SNAP students across the territory, or is this budget actually built to support a certain number of SNAP students in the...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm wondering how many apprentices can this budget support at $2.249 million?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I hope so as well because I've noted on the next page as well that the under contributions that it is marked as zero there and that's a big concern to me because that can be a very expensive venture.
Madam Chair, my next question is in regards to the apprenticeship and occupational certification. I'm wondering how many apprentices does this budget serve? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am seeing a significant decrease in the top line item of advanced education and strategic initiatives. And I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to why we're seeing such a huge gap between the revised estimates for 20222023 and the main estimates for 20232024. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I was furiously writing and so I am going to have to go back through Hansard as well. And I appreciate that the government is working with YKDFN on a socio-economic agreement. One of the things that I am hearing, and that I'm talking about right now, is that there's not really a clear understanding of whether or not a project is going to be $1 million, if it's going to come out and be a $100 million, and the capacity of northern businesses to be able to kind of play ball in those ball fields is much different, right? If you need a team of five people...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm happy that the Minister was able to read my mind because I just realized I gave him zero context about what we're speaking about. So just for Hansard, we're talking about Giant Mine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can provide some clarity as to what rate these work hours are going to southern workers because of available northern workers are either being underbid versus there being no NWT bidders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize my page, Paige Hawthorne, who has joined us here in the House this week from Kam Lake and thank her for all of her hard work. Thank you.
Mahsi, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment at this time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm very happy to hear from the Minister that they're looking at new ways of doing this. One of the things that I find very frustrating is when you hear year after year after year there's a vacancy, we're waiting for someone to fill the vacancy. How long do you wait for someone to fill a vacancy before you start looking at new ways to do stuff? And so I'm really looking forward to this review. I think it's really important. I think a lot of kids depend on the services that they're just not getting right now.
