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. And I appreciate that from the Minister, and I really hope that we can get that fixed as far as coordinating with the federal government to have their website changed. It does add uncertainty for people travelling through that process here in the Northwest Territories.
I do find as well that I hear a lot from constituents who, they do contact NTHSSA to book an appointment and what they find out is that there is a lengthy period of time that they have to wait in order to complete that process, and sometimes that puts them too far up against the wall for their...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the strengths sometimes of really good reports are error evaluations, are the anecdotes that come with them so the real life experiences of people in communities. And so more outcomebased and not just outputbased as far as, you know, number of people that participate in workshop, number of workshops delivered, and so forth. And so I'm wondering if the Minister is willing to commit to sharing these evaluations with the Standing Committee on Social Development as they're available? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Minister might remember I already used his words against him in February of this year.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how many or which communities are taking part and what the total budget is now for the program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to revive a discussion started in the 14th Assembly about creating a child and youth advocate for the Northwest Territories.
Children and youth need our special attention and support, particularly when they are being cared for by people other than their immediate families. Since the NWT started discussing this issue in 2003, Yukon has created an advocate office and so has Nunavut. In fact, we are the only of two jurisdictions in Canada without an office dedicated to protecting the rights of children on both an individual and systemic basis as...
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. So over the course of the last 18 years then, we've been slowly watching a decline happen, but there hasn't been a response then from the GNWT to actually address what we now understand to be and quite thankfully, I'm going use this one probably quite a bit the number 1 priority of this government. And I might get a talking to from some Ministers after that, but I'm going to run with it.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the NWT Housing Corporation intends to bring forward new legislation specific to public housing, because right now the NWT Housing Corporation's...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I can say that the Standing Committee on Social Development is very much looking forward to that document and being able to hopefully participate in some feedback from especially small community members that sit on that committee.
My second question, Mr. Speaker, is when the Housing Corporation joined us for the Committee of the Whole review of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation capital estimates, the deputy minister committed to bringing together information to address the end to core need in the Northwest...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a suggestion as to what that legacy might be.
Laughter
Twenty-six months ago, we stood in this House and made history a milestone defined by our gender. While I don't discount the importance of gender equity and representation in leadership, I refuse to have gender define this Assembly's legacy. I want to be defined by my heart, my actions, and my accomplishments.
On our first day I asked for bold change leadership. Bold change requires leaders to be stirred by injustices, willing to advance transformational ideas, and relentless in the hard work to...
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I support this motion. It was duly noted by committee that public litigation has gone up quite a bit for the GNWT over the course of the last five years. But we in committee have no way of knowing what is driving this. We're holding the government accountable, or really advocating for change for things that are really truly systemic. And so I support this motion and appreciate the conversation that committee had in regards to this. Thank you.
I'm starting to feel like it's my birthday, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister just said something pretty amazing. She said that housing is the number 1 priority of this government, and I think that's a pretty incredible statement and one that I hope that I can capitalize on for my third question.
So I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, has the NWT Housing Corporation asked the GNWT to replace the lost CMHC funding for O and M; and if so, why is Cabinet expecting these lost federal funds to be found internally if this is their number 1 priority? Thank you.
