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, within that critical path, there are some items that Education, Culture and Employment is able to fund from within through money that they retained through the MOU that they did have with Aurora College, and there are additional items that would require additional funding. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to begin my statement in Dinjii Zhu' Ginjik. Mr. Speaker, [Translation] as we approach the end of the 2024-2025 school year, I want to congratulate all the students of the Northwest Territories and celebrate their successes. Whether they are graduating from junior kindergarten, high school, or post-secondary institution like Aurora College or College Nordique, the territory's graduates have so much to be proud of. [Translation Ends].
Mr. Speaker, the junior kindergarten to Grade 12 Performance Measures Report will be published in the coming months, however, I wanted to...
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 28, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, No. 2, be ready for the second time.
The proposed, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, No. 2, would amend the student loan fund (also called the revolving loan limit) in the schedule of the act from $45 million to $55 million. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly, the GNWT has responded in the area that we have seen direct tariff impacts to business which was to our diamond industry and from there, Mr. Speaker, certainly we'll continue to work with our chambers to find out what data they have in order to show what the impact is to business. Because I need the data to be able to decipher what our response, if it all needs to be from the GNWT, and certainly when we're in Ottawa next week I'll also be sitting with Ministers responsible for internal trade, and we'll be able to have conversations in...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at Industry, Tourism and Investment, we certainly believe in supporting northern business, and we are very transparent about who we support in the territory. We have multiple different programs across the department, and we publish the contributions to business through our contributions agreements very, very transparently, and certainly happy to look for any form or mechanism that we continue to support business in a greater way in the territory. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly any time that we are writing to the federal government, speaking to the federal government on the phone, or having virtual conversations with Ministers -- I hosted a virtual FTP earlier today with a federal Minister on the line, two federal Ministers on the line, and so any of these opportunities are great for relationship building, and we carry those forward in conversations about post-secondary as well.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, the Aurora College board of governors does have a deliverable mandate item that's found in the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the letter that I've sent to committee outlines both a short-term response acknowledging that, you know, adult learning is very important in communities, and then also longer term conversation about solutions that would take us far beyond our short-term solutions. So in terms of what that looks like, I am asking committee first to respond back to the letter so I can garner their thinking and their perspectives on this. I need to reach out to Indigenous governments to advise them of short term and long-term solutions that we're looking at here, and then...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we were all gearing up and packing up our computers to walk in here today, Members would have received an email from me with a letter that outlined what that critical path and timeline is. And in addition to that, there is a deadline in the letter by which time I would appreciate feedback from committee so that we can further this conversation together. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Plain Language Summary for Bill 28, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, No. 2; Statement of Consistency for Bill 28, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, No. 2; and Canada Energy Regulator's 2024-2025 Annual Report of Activities under the Northwest Territories Oil and Gas Operations Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point we're certainly working with the business community mostly through our chambers to decipher any increases in costs that we're seeing to northern businesses. We did recently see implications to our diamond industry for multiple reasons, one of which was tariffs. And certainly, Mr. Speaker, always happy to have the conversation, but I could never agree to that on the floor of the House because we have processes where I would need to, of course, have the support of all Cabinet. It's not a one-person decision. Thank you.