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, before the Emerging Stronger Plan discussions, we talked about the Emerging Wisely Plan, and that was really kind of the cornerstone event of how we were going to move on through lockdown into re-emerging from our homes and back into the world of the Northwest Territories as we know and love it. I am wondering if there is a plan from Cabinet to re-release that plan based on what we know now and what we can expect for the remainder of 2021 once people are vaccinated, once schools start to, they're going to close for the summer. They're going to...
I hear often from constituents that they are very happy with the state of the NWT as far as the safety and the health of our people. They are very excited to get vaccinated, and they're very enthusiastic about that. I encourage Cabinet to really share the successes that they have had and look forward to hearing more about that as we go through session, as well.
The fact of the matter is that, last year, residents were promised a plan, and so now they are looking for the plan and what the future of the NWT holds. What does it look like? How do we come back from this? How do we move into a...
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, Madam Speaker. WHEREAS Section 54(3) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides that the Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Board of Management, shall appoint a Law Clerk on such terms and conditions that the Board of Management may recommend;
AND WHEREAS the Board of Management is tasked with recommending an individual to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make a recommendation to the Commissioner;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Legislative Assembly recommends the appointment of...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation on the National Co-Investment Fund. Can the Minister please provide the status of all applications to the National Co-Investment Fund of which the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has knowledge, and can the Minister please advise:
How many Northwest Territories Housing Corporation employees are currently assigned to work on applications to the National Co-Investment Fund;
What percentage of those employees' time is spent working on applications to the National Co...
I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to at what points during the development of the engagement strategy will the public be able to weigh in and see how it's going, or will committee be able to see how it's going, as well? Does the department plan on waiting until the very end of the alcohol strategy to then release pieces of it or the whole thing? Where is the public's opportunity to be involved beyond?
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister of Health and Social Services has spoken about the harm of alcohol to all of our communities multiple times within the House here. We've also heard multiple times about the upcoming alcohol strategy that is expected in the Northwest Territories. I'm wondering if the Minister can just talk to us about what she intends the alcohol strategy to accomplish. Thank you.
Some of the regulations and laws that contain kind of those hidden moments or hidden pieces of systemic racism are often ones that we often overlook and have been in our system for decades. I'm wondering: what work is being done right now to dig those out and make sure that all of those pieces of legislation and pieces of policy work are being used on that lens because a lot of the programs that are getting that lens are new programs? What are we doing about our old existing programs?
