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.
I appreciate the Minister's comment about not being able to decide on programming from Aurora College, so I hope Aurora College is listening. Will Aurora College consider integrating the personal support worker diploma courses for partial credit towards the first year of the nursing program so that the personal support workers can receive credit for what they have completed should they decide to return to college and so that existing nursing students will be eligible for personal support worker positions as summer employment while they complete their nursing degree? As an aside, Mr. Speaker...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment currently has five career and education advisors serving all 33 communities. This role is to help high school students come up with a path that they want to take after high school and to be able to lay that path out with them and get kids really excited about what they want to do. I've had the opportunity to speak with both people who serve in that role and kids who have taken advantage of that role, and it's a very positive relationship. What I am wondering is: what is ECE's plan to grow the career and...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Along the same lines as making sure that high school students have all the opportunity in the world to build their experience, whether it be economy of care or whether it's trades, I am hearing from some employers that there is a concern that, in order to qualify for the trades wage subsidy, their apprentice needs to accomplish a minimum of 30 hours of work during the week. Some of the apprentices are high school students through the SNAP program and obviously cannot accommodate 30-hour-a-week minimums. I am wondering if the program is willing to work with...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 40)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Just some general comments on the capital plan or the capital acquisition plan as a whole. The plan that is before us is the largest capital acquisition plan that this Assembly has seen to date and represents quite a substantial amount of money. I think what the red flag for me here is: who did not go through the difficult process of making difficult decisions to decide what this government could handle as far as commitments that were to be made and projects that needed to go forward? Because I think for me what the question there is: can the NWT handle this...
I agree that immigration is a great thing, and I agree that the local business community is very excited to work with people who are coming to enrich the lives of Northerners and to add to our economy. I do not agree, though, that the sole focus or the only focus in this case of ITI is to support people who are involved in the program. ITI's job is to support also northern entrepreneurs and Northerners who are trying to make it as business owners, so what I am wondering is: what does the Minister of ITI suggest as far as how local business owners protect themselves in these business dealings...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to gain a little bit of extra clarity. In relation to the good-faith deposit, the GNWT has collected roughly $225,000. I am wondering if there was an expense that the GNWT felt that they incurred by running the program that would justify keeping that? Thank you.
No. I appreciate knowing that that was kept three times. Can the Minister speak to what happens to this deposit, and was it ever used to support damages to local businesses that were incurred by local businesses in relation to this program?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The NWT Nominee Program for the business stream used to have a $75,000 good-faith deposit. I am wondering if the Minister can explain what purpose the deposit did serve? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 40)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am just wondering if the GNWT, when requesting bids or tenders or contracts for vehicles, is specific to the make and model of the vehicle or if they leave it open so that different suppliers are able to bid on the contract and not just, for example, Ford or GM or Dodge, and so that it's a little bit more open and different businesses can bid on the contract? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's words, and I appreciate the fact that she does come from a very distinct legal background. I would like to suggest that, given that the North is definitely always looking for ways to build capacity and always looking for ways to empower local business owners, that potentially the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment can put some weight behind helping build that strength within the northern business community to make sure that everybody has tools at their disposal to set themselves up for success. Thank you.
