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, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project is a mandate item of the GNWT. It is intended to provide clean energy to the mineral rich Slave Geological Province and eventually connect the NWT electrical grid to the south. On the department's website, the project is intended to both increase hydro generation capacity and to stabilize electricity rates for NWT residents and businesses.
A promising aspect of this mega project is that the federal government recognizes the need to update grid infrastructure across Canada. In May, the federal infrastructure minister said...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the other piece, then, that I'm going to inquire specifically about is internet redundancy within Yellowknife. This is something we've heard quite a bit about from the Chamber of Commerce here in Yellowknife throughout the length of our term, and I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to this project here as well. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 127)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this item deals with the extension of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link from the Inuvik to Tuk Highway. And given the conversations that we've had during the length of this Assembly in regards to broadband internet and its farreaching impact on Northerners from, you know, the border right up to the Arctic Ocean and back again, I'm wondering where there is no money showing under the P3s or additional projects mentioned here. And I mean, this has a huge impact on education when we're talking about northern distance learning or when we're talking about...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, October 31st, 2022, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Tabled Document 68119(2): Government of the Northwest Territories response to Committee Report 2619(2): Report on the Child and Family Services Act Lifting Children, Youth and Families: An All of Territory Approach to Keeping Families Together, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what are the next steps for the Department of Justice to draft this legislation, and when does the GNWT expect to table a bill in the House? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice.
In June of 2020, I called on then Minister of Justice to draft missing persons legislation for the Northwest Territories in response to the MMIWG Call for Justice number 5.8.
This summer the Department of Justice started the call for feedback for potential missing persons legislation here in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister inform the House what kind of feedback was received? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to look at a policy change as well that would allow travel to Calgary for medical travel patients? Right now what patients are saying, or what constituents are saying, is that there's additional wait times in order for waiting for appointments available in Edmonton and that medical travel won't cover the travel to get to Calgary for appointments of the same nature but that are available much sooner. And so I'm wondering if this change can be made at a policy level. This would save on administrative burdens associated...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the costs have gone up substantially, especially over the last couple of years here, and I'm wondering if Health and Social Services intends to increase the per diems and hotel subsidy that they offer to make it more in line with the costs that residents are actually incurring when they travel south? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I question whether the GNWT is meeting the spirit and intent of access to healthcare as defined under the Canada Health Act. Section 12(1)(a) of the Canada Health Act defines accessibility under the program from which the GNWT receives full cash contribution payable for healthcare services to each jurisdiction each fiscal year. Accessibility, as defined under the program criteria states, "The healthcare insurance plan of a province "(a) must provide for insured health services on uniform terms and conditions", and it goes on to further say "on a basis that does not impede...
