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 20)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is going to take me into the income assistance section. So it is absolutely one of our deliverables under or business plan to work collaboratively with the primary's department, and that would take us into working with departments as well, like housing with Minister Kuptana. Within and one of the things we talked about quite a bit today was the ability of the new income assistance program to free up some time of the client navigators within the income assistance division so that as they are working with some of our most vulnerable residents...

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this type of work has not been fully done. About 20 years ago, the GNWT undertook an initiative that aimed to better align and streamline various social programs, but that work did not continue. What we are seeing, though, right now is absolutely I agree with the Member, there needs to be an alignment of our social programming and our social services and that's why you see a lot of conversation in the 19th Assembly, and has continued into the 20th Assembly, about integrated service delivery and an acknowledgement that integrated service delivery...

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have a headquarters number of 38. And sorry, the policy planning sorry, planning, research, and evaluation is seven.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this, I find, relates to the first question as well and I think it's really important to reiterate that people don't need a fixed address in order to be able to access income assistance. For example, we also have people who are living in shelters who access income assistance. And so I absolutely agree that, you know, housing is not a privilege that everybody has at this time and that we need to make sure that we are coming together and working as hard as we can to make sure that there are solutions for residents and that we do what we can. Thank...

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, given the different options that exist, which were essentially leaving it as is, and comparing that to where we would like to be or how we would like to be able to support languages and culture across the territory and the effort and focus we'd like to see go into that, this was determined to be the best option in order to do the work that we wanted to see done within the department. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very excited about the changes as well that are taking place for income assistance clients who are seniors and persons with disabilities. At this time, there is not a plan to change it right across the board. And I think it's worthwhile pointing out that this view is not shared by all of my colleagues on the other side of the House. But what I'm really excited about as well is there is going to be more time freed up, like I said for the client navigators to be able to work with income assistance clients who are not part of those two categories...

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left I have Mr. Jamie Fulford. And on my right, I have Ms. Katherine McDonald.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know personally of some people who have received income assistance but did not have a fixed address. And so I would like to be able to the Member did mention a couple of people in her community and would like to be able to specifically work on those cases with the Member to see what we can do. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. For the operational detail of that, I will pass it to the deputy minister.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the month of July the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will be starting its new income assistance program. And so that program will allow persons living with disabilities and seniors to be able to do an annual application instead of a month to month application. And this reduction in the administrative burdens that are on some of income assistance clients will be able to free up a lot of time for the client navigators. And that time that is freed up with client navigators will be able to be used in more of a wraparound service...