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.
I am going to ask for some more money anyway. We live in a very small territory, and I have had the privilege of knowing many teachers who have also shared with me the PowerPoint presentation that they received from the Chief Public Health Officer. I have seen what the expectation is for kids going back to school this fall, and as a parent and as a resident of the Northwest Territories, I definitely have my own concerns. We know just from what we've heard around Canada, through COVID, that one of the expectations is going to be limited extra-curricular for students in their classrooms, and...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, and I quickly realized today, while sitting here, that the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes and I are on the same page. I can save the Minister a little bit of time today and let him know that there will be increased costs to schools for PPE. The expectation is for schools to have physical barriers, for them to be able to have face masks, for them to have increased cleaning in the schools, a potential for increased staffing needs if a teacher has a runny nose, which, if anybody here knows kids, runny noses in...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am going to move on to the community counselling information system. I am wondering if the Minister could explain to us what that is and how that's different than the electronic patient system that our primary clinics and health centres currently use. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Committee Report 13-19(2), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Long-Term Post-Pandemic Recovery: Recommendations to the GNWT, be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm wondering when the building will be completely renovated, done, and ready for us to start using as a long-term care facility. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its report on long-term post-pandemic recovery recommendations to the GNWT and commends it to the House.
The Standing Committee on Social Development developed the following recommendations to the Government of the Northwest Territories concerning the Northwest Territories long-term, post-pandemic recovery, with a specific focus on the departments for which the Standing Committee has oversight: NWT Housing Corporation, Education Culture and Employment, Department of Health and Social Services, and the Department of...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I guess just a general comment. I would love for us to get to the end of this Assembly and to be able to confidently say that every school in the Northwest Territories has running water, and I guess I look forward to the Minister's follow-up from his vague commitments. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, today is 15 days after the last breath was pressed out of George Floyd while a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes. In empathy for his family and all who are suffering, I ask this House to show compassion and join me in nine seconds of silence.
Mr. Speaker, as I speak, Yellowknifers march down our main streets to declare unequivocally that Black lives matter. I struggle with my absence, and I struggle that it will be mistaken as silence, the silence of complicity. This world suffers two pandemics simultaneously: COVID-19 and racism. Black people have suffered from...
Debates of
, 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 29)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Is there an expected deadline for this school to be complete and open? Thank you.
