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, Madam Chair. Just in regard to CMHC funding and the declining O and M support, I'm wondering, for a long time, now, we have held the cap of housing units within the Housing Corporation at the 2,800-unit mark. I'm wondering if there is an appetite from the Housing Corporation to review that number and figure out how we could go about increasing the amount of public housing that we do have within the Northwest Territories, because we know that we are not meeting our housing needs currently within the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Would the Minister be willing to sit down with Members from this side of the house and find out ways that we can support potentially growing that space in Fort Smith and put together a universal childcare with the Member for Thebacha so that more people can uptake trades in the Fort Smith area? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I was really happy to hear my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh question the Minister in regard to increasing interest in the trades. It was nice to hear that the Department of Education is working towards getting kids excited about working in the trades, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of us in the Northwest Territories start our families quite early and end up with children maybe younger than the national average. I had had my first child when I was 23. What I'm wondering...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much. I'm going to switch gears here a little bit and talk about waste management a little bit because we sat with ENR yesterday and talked about our responsibility as a government to look toward including waste management and disposal of construction material when we're doing buildings in the Northwest Territories. Does the Housing Corporation have a waste management plan for the buildings that they produce within their communities, or do they have an expectation of waste management for contractors whom they hire to do that work? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start off today by acknowledging the hard work done by the Legislative Assembly's public relations group, who have made sure that our interpreter booths are generally quite full. Interpreters are a huge part of our family here at the Legislative Assembly and are part of our day-to-day operations in the House. They are a very important part of the day-to-day operations in this House. Language preservation is important. Language allows us to see the world differently, to open up our interpretation of the world around us, and to re-evaluate the way we are...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Is there a staff member within the Housing Corporation currently that liaises with CMHC and creates that relationship, and, if so, what division are they found in? Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 17)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. The next line item is finance and administration, and then the third is financial planning, which was broken away from finance and administration. I'm wondering if you can explain what is encompassed in that line item, please?
I am wondering if the Minister can speak to what the department is currently doing to address the high cost of medical travel in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Further to my statement today, I'm wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services would be able to inform the House of how much the cost of medical travel has increased over the last five years. Thank you.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 16)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Hypothetically speaking, if we end up with multiple very bad fire seasons in a row, if we are incapable of increasing our borrowing limit from the federal government, how do we continue to be able to protect the NWT from bad fire seasons, given that we are at the top limit of our borrowing capacity? Thank you.
