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. Mr. Speaker, a program of that magnitude and of such a change in political direction of the government would need to come from this Legislative Assembly and would be something that would need to be found, I would say, within our business plans and also within the priorities of this government. Thank you.
So to the first question that the Member asked, Mr. Speaker, about whether or not they're big C counsellors or little C counsellors, I'm not sure if that means are they mental health counsellors; no, they're not mental health counsellors if that's what meant. Sorry, I was talking to fast.
In regards to what type of counsellors they are, they are people who are they fill a role, and they provide pathways. They are professionals. They understand their department. They understand how to create connections. And one of the things that reducing the administrative barriers of this program does as...
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the concern of Members. And what I think I would really love for people to be able to take home is the importance of what it is that we are talking about, which I think that everybody is on the same page of that is that we need to make sure that we are putting as much of a spotlight on culture and languages across the territory. When I have had the opportunity to speak with people from one end of this territory to the other, every time we start talking about healing, it always leads back the conversation always leads back to one of...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had the opportunity to speak with multiple residents who, at some point in their lives, have been on income assistance. And one of the things that they have expressed to me is frustration about how difficult it was to find pathways off income assistance once they were on it. And so one thing that's very important to me and I know that the Member shares this interest as well is creating those pathways for people to be able to access employment, access entrepreneurship, and access education programs as well. And that's one of the reasons I'm so excited...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking what we previously track. And so as I'm saying that this is a new program and so going forward, we're going to have the opportunity to look at a lot more data and see what is going on. But that's not information that I have at my fingertips to be able to provide the Member right now. But I very much look forward to being able to tell the story of what this new program is doing for NWT residents and to be able to talk about those success stories. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am quite confident that I'm quite confident in the work of the communications staff at the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. You know, I hope that they won't be judged on that one incident because there have been a tremendous amount of success stories that have come out of that office, and they work very hard. They have done a lot of beautiful work on behalf of the department and have been wellresourced to be able to do that. They are a team that works exceptionally hard and takes great pride in the work that they do and the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the department used to track productive choices when it had it as a requirement under the program, but it is not a requirement under the program anymore. If the Member had an interest in seeing the historical data on productive choices, I could definitely work with the Member to pull some of that information. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, culture and languages have traditionally been well, languages, for sure, have traditionally been within the division that serves our JK to 12 education as well. And as you can imagine, they are both large subject matters and equally as important as the other. And so the intent there was to really pull culture and languages out of that division and provide it with its own necessary spotlight to make sure that it has all of the resources that we can provide it to be able to continue to grow that area because it is a critical part not only to education...
