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.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Operating Plans for Northwest Territories Education Bodies for the 2025-2026 School Year Ending June 30th, 2026, Volumes 1 and 2. Thank you, 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.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the way that our system is structured today, that funding request would have to go to the education body itself. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the first priority for this fall is to make sure we get applications processed as quickly as possible and we're focusing on getting those dollars out to students, even students who had their applications in late. I know that stuff comes up. And it is my number one priority to see those payments flow and those applications to be processed.
Second to that, Mr. Speaker, it is going through the process to make sure that we are looking at the entire student financial assistance application process, finding efficiencies, and making sure that we're well...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all of our contribution agreements that we have within the Government of the Northwest Territories do come with an agreement. A memorandum of understanding is often also included in that. Many of them end up being redone year to year, and they use data in order to form what we're going to do. And we also work quite often with the NGOs that are applying on and receiving these contribution agreements in order to access this funding. And a lot of times, especially, you know, when we're talking about literacy, we're generally talking about a small...
