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 52)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. We have an excellent relationship with Tourism NWT who does wonderful work. We also have -- sorry, and I should toot their horn a little bit. They've done a tremendous amount of work promoting even on things like Good Morning America. And as soon as they have done that work, we've seen access to our tourism operators shoot through the roof and some of those people, of course, are using our parks. We also have a tremendous amount of marketing on social media. We also have information in visitors centres in other jurisdictions. And a great way to also promote it...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those conversations occur on an annual basis when we go through our capital planning process. And I can also confirm for the Member that I have had conversations with the N'dilo DEA chair in regards to infrastructure as well. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, every year the Department of Education, Culture and Employment speaks with local DECs, DEAs, about what capital projects they want to put on the list and what it is that the school needs, and then the Department of Education, Culture and Employment works closely with the Department of Infrastructure to make sure that these projects are prioritized. As I said earlier today, we're not in a situation where we could do every single project across the territory in one year but certainly ensuring that at the end of the day we're working as hard as...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly I would like to acknowledge the Member's statement from the beginning of the day today. We have 49 schools in the Northwest Territories, and they were large -- our infrastructure across the territory, including arenas, housing, and the rest, was largely built at the same time. So we certainly go through all of our schools and infrastructure and have to make difficult decisions on prioritization and look first and foremost at safety and accessibility, and then from there determine what we need to start with. But I certainly hear the...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. And I may have misunderstood the question but if the question is if I could explain the engagement process that the government undertook in the 1970s, I would be hard-pressed to do so. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Certainly didn't want to get too far ahead of ourselves and know that I've had great conversations with the Member about this program, and also acknowledging that our buying power with our dollars these days is much different than it was before. And so previously committed to the Member to reviewing the income thresholds of the program to ensure that it is still meeting the need of seniors and also getting to the purpose of the program. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's almost as if the Member was on some of my earlier phone calls last week. So other jurisdictions are in a position where if they put an overarching piece of legislation in like that, then it goes to all their regulatory bodies. But here in the territory, some of our regulatory bodies are here in the territory and some of them are regulatory bodies in other jurisdictions that we use for some of our licensing. So an example of that would be, for example, a physiotherapist. We don't have a regulatory body here in the territory and so...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, about three minutes ago I was committed to those relationships, and I remain committed to them. I agree with the Member that those relationships are what are going to let us know how the tariffs are impacting the North, and that information is absolutely critical. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly do. So ITI has multiple funding sources that can support community efforts to grow local gardens, and that includes this season. So one of our main pieces of funding, Mr. Speaker, is the sustainable Canadian agriculture partnership which we lovingly refer to as SCAP, and that is 7.6 and change -- $7.6 million and change over the next five years of the agreement to support agriculture and agro food sector of the Northwest Territories. I can also say that I was at the agro food conference before I left town last week -- or it could have been the...
