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. Mr. Speaker, aging in place depends on family support. And without family support and multigenerational living we would need far more than the original projection of 435 long term care beds. The income assistance policy currently states that rent can be paid by an adult child on behalf of a parent if the dwelling is in a separate living quarter approved by a secondary suite in accordance with the local municipality.
Quite simply, Mr. Speaker, this is not a realty for life in the North. So will the Minister support multigenerational housing by removing policy...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our seniors and elders are the fastest growing population in the NWT. Before I'm an emptynester, our seniors population over 60 will increase by 56 percent and the demand for home care by 80 percent. Historically, Canadian elder care is lost in the fog between housing, social assistance, and health care. But this government committed to empowering seniors and elders to age in place and to an elders strategy. If we are going to achieve either of those, Mr. Speaker, we have work to do.
In March, Health and Social Services announced a decrease in its projected...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think it's a very important room in the North Slave Correctional Centre, and I'd appreciate hopefully good news that that's what it is addressing. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm wondering if the Minister can elaborate on the ventilation and air conditioning retrofit from North Slave. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So the commissioning of the building, what's entailed in that and that is about a yearlong process, is it? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 78)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'll bite. I'm wondering if the Minister can then please provide some information on carryovers, especially when, in a COVID time, we are very dependent on government finances in order to keep businesses working. And I'm also wondering if, in that explanation, the Minister can also speak to the difference between carryovers and lapses. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 1619(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Housing Phase One: Needs for NWT Homeowners and Private Landlords be received and moved into Committee of the Whole for future consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. We all want to be here today, so there you go.
Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its Report on Housing Phase One: Needs for NWT Homeowners and Private Landlords, and commends it to the House.
The Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide a report on the first phase of their housing review, examining issues affecting homeowners and landlords. The review shines a light on the longstanding housing policy issues that have remained unsolved over decades, as well as the growing...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for both of the questions I just asked, both of those items are very clearly and the Minister is right on page 67 to 69 of the policy manual handbook for income assistance. And, for example, with my question with the waitlist, those items are listed in the policy manual. And so when we talk about inconsistencies with policies for seniors, this is where the inconsistencies come from. If people are applying the manual book, and they're applying it differently or on a casebycase basis, you're ending up with a different rule for one senior than you...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Income Assistance and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, many elders and seniors in our territory live in poverty and we have a high cost of living here in the Northwest Territories. The income assistance policy requires seniors to add their names to the public housing waitlist however seniors, who need additional financial support and who own their own homes, cannot add their names to the public housing waitlist. Many remote communities struggle with housing resale and...
