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, while absolutely we respect section 23 rights of Canadians and uphold those rights as a territory, we've also heard frequently in this House this week about the need to make sure that we're also balancing the needs of all kids in all schools across this territory. So one of my responsibilities is to ensure that that need is balanced across the territory and that we are able to maintain and invest in the assets that we do have. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am also a product of the French immersion system and believe that representation certainly matters. And that said, Mr. Speaker, I am currently working on some regulation changes alongside the CSFTNO here in the Northwest Territories. Specifically, our regulations speak to the fact that currently French-first language schools are found in Yellowknife and Hay River, and so we are removing the designation of those two communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all eligible applicants from both February and July 2025 intakes were accepted and are currently being processed. Anybody who was not an eligible applicant was immediately notified that their application was ineligible, so they will need to reapply for the third intake of 2025. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to recognize today our interpreters. My favourite day of session is the day that you and I get to have lunch with all of them. I appreciate the time they spend with each of us and the extra time they spend with me helping me on my statements. I'd also like to do a special recognition of Susie Napayk-Short, our Inuktitut translator. It is her birthday today, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would need to go follow up with the board of governors of Aurora College and their trades program specifically. I can tell you that their trades instructors are all people generally who have worked in the field, who have a tremendous amount of experience, and the apprentices then also go and work directly with employers across this territory as well. Given that it's a small territory, I would assume if there is something up that we would definitely hear about it, and I can say that I certainly like to keep my lines of communication open with our...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, government-wide, we have adopted a macroeconomic policy that we use in all the work that we do, not only across government but also in the Financial Management Board. That said, Mr. Speaker, we also do have -- you want me to keep going? Okay.
Mr. Speaker, we also do have our budget address, which our Minister of Finance delivers every year, that also includes an economic outlook, and I would be more than happy to work with the Member to make sure that we're capturing some of this and some of the other reporting mechanisms that the Member is...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had a great conversation earlier this week, the Member and I, on how we incorporate some of that data. So we do incorporate data into the work that we do. We incorporate it into strategies like our film strategy, our fish strategy, into our art strategies. So that's work that we continue to do in all of our planning, in all of our programs that we do at the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and work that we will continue to do.
Mr. Speaker, I'm more than happy to continue having conversations about how we can incorporate more of...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, even with the support initiative funding, we're still asking all education bodies to still put in their applications to Jordan's Principle and Inuit Child First Initiative. So even with those applications and that funding arrangement that we do have and have applied funding for, there still is a responsibility to make sure that we're still submitting applications to the federal government, and the same encouragement would apply for the question of the Member in regards specifically to funding for the speech-language pathologist.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So the Member is absolutely right. When programs are not offered here, then often our students will go down to Alberta, for example at NAIT. So quite often, we end up with students who are doing their first and second year here in the Northwest Territories, and then their third and fourth year are being facilitated at other institutions. Predominantly, they end up going down to Alberta. I will also say the chair and board of governors of Aurora College is looking at other ways of increasing their trades offerings and making sure that they're increasing access...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we currently follow the national, what's called the NOT Code, so the trades that are identified under national standards, and so that's the system that we adhere to to make sure that we're being consistent with the whole country. Thank you.
