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, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier because I believe that the kind of response required by the GNWT to support small business will take a Cabinet collaboration. Mr. Speaker, can I have the Premier's commitment that she will instruct her Cabinet Ministers to bring forward innovative suggestions on how more funding and support can be made available to NWT businesses as a result of COVID-19? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The International Monetary Fund is calling the pandemic's devastation of the global economy "the great lockdown." Its impacts are predicted to be worse than both the 2009 great recession and the Great Depression of the 1930s. According to the Conference Board of Canada, Canada's economic contraction during the second quarter of 2020 is estimated to be a staggering 25 percent due to COVID-19 shutdowns. The Conference Board is at least optimistic that a rebound will start later in the year, but by this time many businesses and the jobs they bring will be beyond devastated...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 24)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just wanted to know, with the child and youth care counsellors that the territory is anticipating adding to all of our regions, with the recent developments of COVID and the anxiety and added mental health concerns that this will cause for the children of the Northwest Territories, is there an added emphasis to get these positions all in place across the territory quicker? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 24)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Does this review solely look at the costs of supplementary health benefits, or does it also take into consideration the cost of preventative care and the long-term effects of actually being able to save money by spending money on people here and being able to ensure that they have access to supplementary health benefits that they ultimately need and that would pay for itself long-term, down the road? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 24)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I just have a couple of questions in regard to supplementary health benefits, and I'm just wondering: is there an anticipated review of supplementary health benefits coming in the near future? Thank you.
I completely agree with the Premier that we do have to demand flexibility from the federal government, but in that, I believe that we also need to make up for that here in the Northwest Territories because our businesses simply can't afford to wait until the federal government is able to kind of work with our entire country to then give our northern businesses what they need to survive. Does the Premier see us in the Northwest Territories being able to provide an influx of cash, as a government, to businesses within the Northwest Territories, ahead of waiting for the federal government?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the GNWT may not be in a position to afford a subsidy of this $350-million magnitude, but it could perhaps offset some employer premium costs, improving the WSCC's current offer. The current business supports offered by the GNWT are not enough, and the GNWT must do more now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. In relation to my Member's statement today, I'd like to talk about the SEED funding. Is the department tracking how many applications for SEED funding are being submitted specifically as a result of COVID-19, and, if so, how many applications for COVID-19 SEED funding has ITI received, how many have been approved, and how much funding is associated with these approvals? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 23)
Thanks very much, Madam Chair. Under operations expenditures summary for long-term and continuing care services, for contract services, the number kind of has quite a bit of movement from year to year. If we are looking at the 2018-2019 actuals, we see $850,000. If we move along to the main estimates for this year, we see $365,000 with quite a fluctuation between the two. I am wondering if the Minister can speak to that change in the budget item and where that comes from. Thank you.
