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. So, Mr. Speaker, while Education, Culture and Employment does not mandate specific programs of any type in NWT schools. Because of our decentralized system, we certainly do work to coordinate with our education bodies as we can. So education bodies are responsible to confirm and implement programs that support the delivery of curriculum within the schools, and sometimes this might include referrals to the diagnostic assessments that do happen through the school funding framework, Mr. Speaker. There's also the flexibility to accommodate local decision-making...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, to my left I have Jamie Fulford, deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment. And to my right, I have Nicole Beauchamp, assistant deputy minister, labour and income security.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Bill 28, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, No. 2. This bill seeks to amend the Student Financial Assistance Act to increase the student loan fund, also called the revolving loan limit in the schedule of the Act from $45 million to $55 million.
Enhancements to the student financial assistance program made in 2023-2024, along with more recent changes made to the act by Bill 8, increase the maximum amount that may be loaned to an individual student. Bill 28 will increase the student loan fund by $10 million to ensure students who are...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I heard the Member's comment in his Member's statement. And currently, there is no intent to update the literacy strategy in the Northwest Territories that expired in 2018. We do have, however, have our 2030 early learning and childcare strategy as well as our early learning framework which emphasizes literacy within both of those documents. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just had a meeting with a very passionate 10-year-old student advocate, Ms. Sadie Begg, who is in the gallery today, from Ecole St. Joseph School. I just wanted to thank her for her time and her passion.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member reflected in their statement about the fact that I was just in Toronto at our meeting with Ministers from across the country. This was something that I raised at the table, was the uncertainty that repetitive kind of announcements of new allotments has created and also the late announcements of what our 2026 will look like. So I have asked for more advanced notice so that we know what levels will look like and more forward-looking outlook so we're not finding out year after year in that same timeframe. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to be respectful of trying to keep my time low.
So in the implementation plan in the mandate agreement, it starts with identify first the made-in-the North degree, so the very first one for Aurora College. They identified that in the spring to Members of this House and have subsequently identified it publicly as well as their Bachelor of business administration specializing in Indigenous governance, which we're all very excited about and very excited to see that come.
They are currently working on their process with Campus Alberta...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard the Member asked to sit down. I'm always happy to sit down with a Member. Frequently, if I'm in town, I'm generally in my office, and I'm always on my phone, so very happy to have time either on the phone or in person with the Member. I have regular meetings with what would be considered industry or independent panelists who otherwise referred to as Chamber of Mines. I have a meeting with them today. Very happy to inform the Member or sit down and have a conversation with the Member about what we talk about.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd be happy to work with the departments and working groups in order to put something together as an all-of-government response for leadership from the Sahtu. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Members bringing this up and, you know, I remember when the red alert was issued back in 2017. I was cheering Bob on. I've long been a fan of former Premier McLeod. And I remember the crux of that being no decisions about the North without the North. And that's something that we still stand by on this side of the House. Meeting with industry is something that I do on a regular basis and, Mr. Speaker, acknowledging how important it is that we as Cabinet work together and there's never a one silver bullet or there's never one issue...
