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. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, just because this role is not currently filled and has sunset does not mean that this work has stopped. As I mentioned to the Member for Great Slave, we're increasing funding in this area. As we go forward, this is an area where I want to see more and more opportunities and I, you know, look forward to coming back to Members of this House and letting them know I've spent all the workforce development training dollars and because that means that Northerners are receiving the training that they need in order to fill the roles that we need filled in...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly do have a diverse economy in the Northwest Territories. We do not have a diverse GDP. So a lot of our GDP still comes from diamond mining in the Northwest Territories, and we're working hard as a Cabinet to make sure that we're diversifying our GDP. That includes things like investing in housing to make sure that we have construction projects and we're continuing to increase our construction allotment from our GDP. We're investing in health care. We're investing in, for example, adding more schools to our capital planning for large...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 82)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, by working with our career and education advisors, we certainly make sure that students know what jobs are available to them, what jobs are in need in the Northwest Territories. Also, certainly, especially when it comes to health care, that's something that Northerners hear a lot about. But we, from a student financial assistance perspective, support all of the post-secondary desires of students as far as them choosing ultimately what they want to do and making sure that they're connected or supported to understand how GNWT programs can support...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 82)
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So there is no minimum. It is somebody who receives dollars for work that is paid work. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 82)
Yes, please, Mr. Chair.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 81)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am, as the Member said, a big fan of Dechinta's work and continue to be. I have had the opportunity to meet with them in the past, as have staff from education, culture and employment, and still meet with them routinely throughout the year.
In addition to that, education, culture and employment continues to fund Dechinta and certainly see them as a key education partner in the Northwest Territories and also happy to make them part of the conversation with engagements that will be happening for adult learning this year. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 81)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, this funding line item used to be found over in health and social services' main estimates, and because it is a direct link to delivering education and delivering post-secondary education through the health sustainability unit, it was identified as something that should be funded over here in education's budget. And so we have moved that line item. But it's not an enhancement. It is simply movement of a line item that was previously found in health and social services. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government has awarded the Northwest Territories 197 spaces. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 81)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I want to be very clear with this response. There's no reductions to dollars being afforded to our child care providers. What you're seeing here is that when the agreement was first implemented, there wasn't, you know, a huge rush and an uptake of it, and so we ended up with a carryover. It also took time for us to get to the 300 spaces that -- additional 300 spaces of our targets that we were budgeted for, and so we ended up with carryovers year over year. And so what you're seeing there in the difference is a difference in one year has carryover...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 81)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, certainly we continue to work with Aurora College. Any, you know, funding requests that Aurora College brings forward to me that is ready to go to the financial management board, I bring those forward to the financial management board. Certainly, the operational decisions of Aurora College fall under the authority of the board of governors. But certainly having conversations with the chair around different opportunities that present themselves in front of us and, you know, how we can make sure that we are aligning ourselves to be prepared for those is...
