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, in June of 2021, this House passed a housing motion called Action for Improved Housing Outcomes. On November 22nd, the government's response was tabled in this House. But the government's response wasn't any different than the answers I generally get from the Minister anyway. It didn't have any specific change or timelines associated with it.
So, Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister of Housing can let us know, or let this House know, when the Standing Committee on Social Development can expect to see a draft of the revised motion for the...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am supporting this budget. This budget has an impact on a lot of the people in the riding that I serve who are business owners and who are looking to continue to put food on their tables and the tables of the employees that they keep staffed and working for their businesses.
To me, I absolutely do agree with some of the words of the MLA for Frame Lake and the MLA for Yellowknife North in that the government does need to change the way that it's doing business. The way the government is doing business right now is not sustainable. But I don't feel...
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, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's another way that we can do this. We could drive it from the GNWT outwards. It doesn't have to be, you know, continuing on with the whole notion and the age-old anecdote of the "starving artist." We can actually prop our artists up, give them an opportunity to bring in huge amounts of dollars into the territory, and go at it from a GNWT perspective, which I think is what a lot of people are asking for given the GNWT already does have a program that supports artists, and we want to be able to see that organization grow.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a child I have vivid memories, as my mother's sidekick, as artists discussed the needs of the NWT arts community. Many of the faces that advocated then are the same in today's fabric of arts activists, but they're tired of asking for the same things: core funding, independence, and infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT released the next tenyear art strategy. Despite several suggestions to improve the strategy from standing committees on both economic development and environment and social development, not one suggestion was considered or incorporated in...
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Aurora College take note of this request that engagement timelines are respectful and sufficient for stakeholders to support meaningful consultation and ensure that the timeframes for engagement and consultation concerning the polytechnic university are adequate. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the committee's report was read into the record on November 30th, 2021 so I do not have any additional substantive comments to add at this time. Individual Members may have comment on the report, and I would like to thank the committee for their work on this report. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's anecdote about ECE and income assistance being able to help out so that seniors aren't going without. I'm wondering if that is a separate application process or if that is a back end process that is handled by the staff at ECE so that I guess undue administrative burdens aren't being placed on seniors. Thank you.
