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, we have a host of client navigators across the territory that work in small communities. They work in regional centres. And they work in Yellowknife. And these client navigators work closely with career development officers. They have, of course, a very intimate knowledge of student financial assistance, which also falls under the income security division. And so these pathways to employment, pathways to entrepreneurship, they are absolutely things that these individuals are trained to support clients through. And so whether it is somebody wanting...
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd be happy to pass it to the deputy minister if the Member would like, but I can also let the Member know that communication is where I came from, and so it's very important to me that we have a communication division that is very well resourced and that we are able to actively and proactively communicate with members of the public, especially when a lot of the programming that comes out of this department is crucial and exceptionally important to residents of the territory. And so I can reassure the Member that the I have not had been...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in response to this question, I can definitely commit to the Member to reaching out to Aurora College and then providing the Member with more information. But this is definitely an interest area of mine as well, and I would like to offer the Member to sit down as well and find out exactly what the community is looking for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECE supports education bodies in recruitment of teachers while education bodies themselves hire the teachers. But in that process, there are two online recruitment platforms. The first is an NWT-wide recruitment information database, and there's also a dedicated point of contact to respond to questions that people might have about moving to the Northwest Territories. Because it's really important before people come, that they understand what life is about. And, of course, as always, we really want to also ensure -- in our classrooms, we're encouraging our...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 19th Assembly, the income assistance program underwent a review, and one of the changes that were made during that review was removing the productive choices requirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, statistics like that are not something I easily have at my fingertips but with a little bit of warning, I can definitely get that for the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very happy to confirm, again, that there is a high school -- or the high school position has been filled for the 2024-2025 school year and, as well, the teaching coverage that is in place will remain for the 2023-2024 school year, so from now until the end of the school year but we've got a few weeks left here. And families who may be considering relocating their children to attend high school in a different NWT community are definitely encouraged to speak with their school principal or their superintendent to find out information about home boarding...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start by just acknowledging the incredible impact that a teacher leaving a community would have on especially a small community in the Northwest Territories, and I just thank the Member for asking these questions to bring it forward and get the information out.
So in the Northwest Territories, education bodies are responsible for hiring teachers. And specific to Lutselk'e, the high school teaching position became vacant in November of 2023. The South Slave Divisional Education Council filled the position with a long-term substitute, and that person...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's nothing on a daily basis as in day to day. But income assistance clients do have access to their client navigator whenever they do need. And also within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, there are also career development officers that are based in all of the regional offices, for example North Slave, South Slave. And these are also persons that individuals on income assistance would have access to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
