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.
Mr. Speaker, public servants can improve the lives of Northerners if they are empowered to do so. Yellowknifers have told me they experience frustration navigating government department, especially during high stress, multi-dimensional life changes. Housing and Education, Culture and Employment income assistance are the two areas causing the most frustration for my constituents. Earlier this year, Justice released the integrated case management social review on investment report. Women were slightly overrepresented at 54 percent of the program participants, while 78 percent self-identified as...
If the Minister does find an application within their files that has been denied because of market disruption, will the Minister have her senior management team, specifically, look at that application, re-evaluate it against their intentions for the SEED application for this fiscal year?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI because I know she really likes policy and procedure. Mr. Speaker, ITI's SEED Policy described market disruption as circumstances when, in the opinion of the regional superintendent, the granting of a contribution will likely adversely and significantly impact the revenue earned by another business within the region. This definition, plus the duty of the regional superintendent under Section 7.4(c), make it clear that the authority to determine market disruption falls to ITI's regional superintendents, and that this authority is...
Thank you to the Minister for that. Given that 70 percent of ICM clients have housing-related challenges, one out of four is already homeless, and 80 percent showed up at ICM already unemployed, how could income security and housing front-line staff work together to provide a more coordinated wrap-around service at this time?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I'm wondering: what areas of income assistance the Minister will focus on as part of the income assistance review? Thank you.
NWT residents often identify barriers they experience in qualifying for NWT Housing Corporation's funding for home ownership, repair, or market rental program as being related to CNIT. In some cases, due to the income targets under CNIT, seniors or people with disabilities do not meet eligibility requirements, even though they desperately require the funding supports that the GNWT does have. Will the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation conduct a review of the current CNIT to create a modern way of prioritizing Northerners for housing in the Northwest Territories?
The NWT Human Rights Commission is separate from the Government of the Northwest Territories. It is part of the human rights system set up under the Human Rights Act. Most legislation in the Northwest Territories has a Cabinet Minister responsible for the act. This is different for the Human Rights Act. It says the commission is responsible to the Legislative Assembly for the administration of the act. The Assembly's Office of the Clerk is responsible for the oversight of the territory's statutory officers, including the Human Rights Commission.
The commission's role is to protect people from...
Thank you to the Minister for further documentation and also the willingness to review that. When it comes to public housing, Yellowknife is considered a zone A community. This means that a person who makes a base salary of an MLA can live in public housing for $890 a month, that a manager with the GNWT is eligible for public housing for $1295 a month, and a Minister would pay a rent of $1625 per month. This is all found in the public housing brochure. It's valuable to remember that Yellowknife also currently has more people on its housing list than the total number of housing units available...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I am wondering if the Minister can explain how the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation calculates the core need income threshold, otherwise known as CNIT, and what programs use the CNIT to determine eligibility? Thank you.
