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. 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 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I wanted to ask now about some funding that's been moved around, and I just was wondering if the Minister can help me understand it.
But the Labour Market Development Agreement has moved from fund one to fund three, and I'm unsure what this means and so I'm wondering if the Minister can explain this to me? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm wondering if the SNAP apprentices also come out of here?
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Given that the goal is always to increase the number of apprentices and given that also Housing is taking on a bigger role in ensuring that apprentices are present on all of their contracts for their builds. There's also been asks in the House for apprentices to be included on more government contracts and for Infrastructure to look at also building that into their contracts, I'm wondering why this line item isn't increasing given the increase in demand and the different avenues that Members are asking for the government to increase the number of apprentices...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 145)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, given that the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic is far from anywhere near done, are we expecting additional influxes in cash flow from the federal government for the purposes of that work? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. And, you know, I assume that people like career advisors and counsellors and school administrators will be part of that education, even school teachers. But I would also like to ask, given that income security and income assistance is in here as well, that GSOs but not only GSOs, NGOs, be made part of kind of that training because there are NGOs like YWCA that spend a lot of time helping people access programs and kind of act as a mediator between residents and programs like yours. And so I'm just hoping that we can ensure that they're included because they can...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My I probably only have time for one last question. So the supporting child inclusion and participation, it says contributions to target the needs of children who are vulnerable, at risk, or who have specific needs. I'm assuming that this is largely used more in kind of an inclusive for kids with disabilities within a daycare or day home setting. I'm also wondering if given that children of teen parents might fall into a vulnerable or at risk category, if this would also be an avenue to access funding for teen parents? Thank you.
