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 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, certainly appreciate the Member referencing that the community learning centres are still captured within our main estimates book. Certainly the announcement from Aurora College came after the books were printed and in all of our hands, so that change is not reflected here.
So regardless of whether or not Aurora College plans to operate the 21 community learning centres, there is still a responsibility for adult learning and basic education across the Northwest Territories and from the perspective of the department of education, a mandate to...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. These regional allocations, of course, are based on the regions as the GNWT does and not our electoral boundary regions. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the program is settling in to where it's at right now but as I explained as well to the Member for Great Slave, I think it's important that we always have a dialogue with education bodies to understand how the program is rolling out. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're working with the college, as I've said before in this House, to understand their plans for future delivery of adult literacy and basic education. So part of that engagement will be communicating with Indigenous governments around future delivery of adult education to ensure that residents and communities are supported. And Indigenous governments, I can confirm again, some have reached out to both the department and I on their future use and expectation of how they'd like to see the facilities used. So this will all kind of be part of that go...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, no, it won't be a mirror of that process, but it will be a collaborative process. We've already undergone the part of the process where we have approached Council of Leaders and Council of Leaders' participants, many of which have provided us with names of officials who will be part of a working group that will work collaboratively with the department on that. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to pass to assistant deputy minister Barnett-Aikman.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, can I pass to the deputy minister, please.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, it wasn't ECE that organized it. It was the Gordan Foundation that organized this work. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for that question. So there was $3.5 million that was negotiated by Members in the fall of last year that was specific for daycare workers. Those dollars required the completion of the wage grid. As for the wage grid, the wage grid has a reliance on levels of education to determine where people fit within the wage grid. And so what we were asked for through the consultations on that wage grid was to not start rolling the dollars out until people per childcare facility had completed either their certification and gotten their...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Absolutely, Mr. Chair, that is largely based on our Skills 4 Success plan. Thank you.
