Caitlin Cleveland

Member Kam Lake

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.

Kam Lake Electoral District

Committees

Caitlin Cleveland
Kam Lake
Constituency Office
Phone
Minister's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Phone
Extension
11124

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 154)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act.

Bill 79 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 29th, 2023, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. The standing committee held a public hearing on May 10th, 2023, and completed its clausebyclause review of the bill with the Minister of Justice on May 24th, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 154)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask that the Minister also and, you know, the GNWT's very good at using Bear Net leave, and as MLAs get Bear Net over here, and I'd like to ask that this information be added to an upcoming Bear Net circulation as well.

Mr. Speaker, GNWT employees are not the only NWT workers impact the by severe disasters. People who are selfemployed or work for small and medium business who do not have billable or hours worked are going weeks without pay sometimes during these mandatory evacuations that are happening. We heard here earlier today from...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 154)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, for the second year in a row, Hay River and K'atlodeeche First Nation residents have been hit with severe disasters and forced to evacuate as we have heard much of today. Residents who work for the GNWT, but can't work remotely, are being asked to use vacation leave, special leave, or even leave without pay during this time. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. Mandatory evacuation should not be made to take away from people's family and medical needs, mental health breaks, or vacation leave. The...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, committee wishes to consider Committee Report 4919(2), Report on the 20212022 Review of the Official Languages Act; and, Committee Report 5119(2), Report on Indigenous Representation in the Northwest Territories Public Service. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 80, Dental Hygienists Profession Statute Amendment Act, be read a second time.

Mr. Speaker, Bill 80 amends the Dental Auxiliaries Act and the Health and Social Services Professions Act to

Require the Minister to recommend to the Commissioner regulations under the Health and Social Services Professions Act on or before March 31st, 2024, to regulate the practice of dental hygienists;

Designate the profession of dental hygienists as a profession to which that act applies, effective April 1st, 2024;

Tr...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, anybody that was either present or listening to Committee of the Whole yesterday may have noticed that it was basically an extension of a Standing Committee on Social Development meeting here for most of the day. And two of the things that we covered in Committee of the Whole yesterday were reports that were done by the standing committee, but those reports could not have been in the way that they were done without the participation of the residents of the Northwest Territories. They really are the voices of the residents of the Northwest Territories. And...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last three and a half years, I have spoken about oral health on numerous occasions in this House. I have focused on the need of the GNWT to change and modernize the Dental Auxiliaries Act and the regulatory environment of dental hygienists to improve preventative oral health in small communities, and I have focused on the cost of the NWT's lack of equitable access to preventative oral health care. What I want to tell this House why it is important that I am moving forward with this bill.

We live in a unique part of the world with unique needs. In...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's pretty obvious that that first phone call that we received the very next morning after we were elected is a memorable one because it's definitely my first memory of talking to Tim. I had never met Tim before, and I had never spoken with Tim before. And I remember being so terrified on the phone that when I hung up, I realized I had absolutely no idea what he had just told me.

Mr. Speaker, Tim has a lot of passion for his role as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, and that is very obvious. He has a lot of love for the Northwest Territories, and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on November 3rd, 2022, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

Bill 68 does not address the existing challenges of the Northwest Territories' early learning and child care sector or fix the damaged relationship between the sector and government. It does, however, put in place necessary basic rules, such as a certification process for educators, and allows the Northwest Territories to catch up with the other...