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.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment
Statements in Debates
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 70)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, our goal this term is to see this project get done. We are resourcing it as we need and as we go. For specifically for the mineral administration and registry system, we're working closely with the Department of Finance because it requires us to migrate first a piece of software called the LTOS, which is the Land Tenure Optimization System. And then from there, we're able to work on the Mineral Administration and Registry System. It's important to note, Mr. Chair, that we're unable to program this system until our regulations are done. And so it's...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, in regards to the Member's first question about the voluntary fees, a letter did go out to daycare and day home service providers in April of this year explaining how they can go about using that, and I also was able to reiterate that in my recent meeting with the NWT ECA as well.
In regards to the salaries for daycare and day homes, what we were able to do is, with our best data, look at the average salaries across the board that people are collecting and make sure that they were on par, and the work that we did earlier this year was in order...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think this is critical information that we're going to get back from families in regards to the inclusive schooling review. We had a tremendous amount of families, of educators, of students participate in this review and explain their experience and their needs to the department of education, and I fully intend to use that information to form our next steps. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we took on five additional staffing positions this summer in order to work to accommodate that, and throughout the year, while we prepare for the surge of -- that we hope to see again in 2026, we'll make sure that we're reviewing the efficiencies of the process to ensure that we're doing our part to ensure that we're prepared because we want to see students go to post-secondary, and we want to see more and more students using post-secondary. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the way that our system is structured today, that funding request would have to go to the education body itself. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the first priority for this fall is to make sure we get applications processed as quickly as possible and we're focusing on getting those dollars out to students, even students who had their applications in late. I know that stuff comes up. And it is my number one priority to see those payments flow and those applications to be processed.
Second to that, Mr. Speaker, it is going through the process to make sure that we are looking at the entire student financial assistance application process, finding efficiencies, and making sure that we're well...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all of our contribution agreements that we have within the Government of the Northwest Territories do come with an agreement. A memorandum of understanding is often also included in that. Many of them end up being redone year to year, and they use data in order to form what we're going to do. And we also work quite often with the NGOs that are applying on and receiving these contribution agreements in order to access this funding. And a lot of times, especially, you know, when we're talking about literacy, we're generally talking about a small...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I too am getting some questions when you are out and about around town, for sure. I will say, though, the best place for people to get answers is certainly from their education body. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment works quite closely together with teachers to do professional development and to support them through this transition. So I just want parents to know that they can also get that information there.
To answer the Member's question, though, and to put this all to rest, it is absolutely not putting students in any...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 70)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, for further details about kind of how this project will go about and what kind of disruptions might occur, like there might be materials that need to be brought in along the road and so that might have an impact, but I'd have to follow up specifically with the Member on the construction schedule, what that would look like. And we can make a commitment as well to make sure that we are advising park users what that will look like for any disruptions that might occur. Thank you.