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.
One of the common undertones of what I'm hearing from the Minister today, I believe, has to do with communication; communication amongst staff, communication with members of the department, and also communication with this House and with the public. I think that's really, really important, an important kind of undertone to carry through this entire process. With that, what I'd like to know is: Part of getting buy-in for this process and from front-line staff is including them in it. In order to create positive change, the people who you are trying to create change for need to be involved in...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Justice in regard to the corrections staffing at our correctional facilities. The Minister made reference to a report, a workplace assessment report that was commissioned by the deputy minister of the Department of Justice. Did the Minister plan to table this report? If yes, when? If not, how does the Minister intend to be transparent in how they will deal with the concerns raised by staff in the report? Thank you.
Thank you very much for that to the Minister. I appreciate that. I think that, sometimes, when you work on the front lines, it can be very intimidating to call up a deputy minister. I can assure the public that the deputy minister of Justice is very approachable, but I'd also like to encourage people to reach out to their MLAs. It's why they're here. If they feel like they can't approach a deputy minister, I really would like people in the corrections industry to not feel fearful about passing information through their MLAs, and we'll be sure to follow up with the Minister on the floor of the...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Minister refer to two separate reports, one just now and one in their Minister's statement. The one in the Minister's statement was an HR plan, and this one was a "what we heard" report. I'm wondering if the Minister can clarify if those are two separate reports or one and the same, and if both reports are intended to be tabled in this House during this session or when we can expect to see them in committee, as well. Thank you.
I hear the Minister saying that he won't table the report because it was completed by employees with the intention that their words would be kept confidential, so I can only respect the Minister's decision for that one. In regard to what the Minister said today, the Minister made reference to a deputy ministers' meeting that was held in December where they discussed updating training, more recruitment, recertification. This House has seen an influx of training and an influx of dollars before. I'm just wondering how this will be different than what this House has heard before, and how this is...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last two decades, the safety of staff at the North Slave Correctional Centre has been repeatedly raised as a concern by Members of this House, and here we find ourselves again.
In November 2004, Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee stated that morale, sick leave, abuse, forced overtime, problematic hiring practices, lack of support, inmate-staff confrontation and assaults, and micromanaging plagued North Slave Correctional Centre. Then, in February 2006, Justice Minister Brendan Bell proposed new funding of $1.4 million to support correctional officer training and staffing...
Mr. Speaker, before 2020, our territory's GDP was already struggling and ours was the only Canadian jurisdiction predicted to have a negative 2020 GDP. The NWT needed a fulsome economic recovery plan before the pandemic, and the pandemic and the unprecedented year that was 2020 heightened that need.
In July 2020, in response to the pandemic concerns fielded by the business community, the GNWT and the 17-member Business Advisory Council agreed to a two-fold mandate: first, to provide advice to the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Investment on mitigating the short-term economic impacts of the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Friday, February 5, 2021, I will move the following motion. Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that pursuant to Section 15 of the Official Languages Act of the Northwest Territories, that Ms. Brenda Gauthier of Fort Smith be appointed as Languages Commissioner for a term of four years; and further, that the appointment be effective February 5, 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
No, that's very good news, and I understand that other jurisdictions may not have plans to create a plan. We started at a different place than other jurisdictions at the beginning of 2020, and so I think that it is important for us to recognize that and for us to be prepared. What I am wondering is if the Premier can speak to the type of key milestones a plan might have or that the public can expect to see, and when they would expect to see those key milestones turned into actions?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are in regards to the Emerging Stronger Plan, and they are for the Premier. I would like to start off by identifying which Minister is responsible for the Emerging Stronger Plan, and what role does Cabinet play in making decisions about the plan? Thank you.
