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 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the school year ends in June but, of course, it takes time for schools to be able to compile data. They've got a lot of data that we are starting to share now. And so we're looking at working towards early next school year for that type of baseline. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely want people to be able to access anything that we are allowed to within the contract that we have signed with the federal government. One of the pieces of that is us being able to maintain that $10 a day fee for families. Certainly, the Government of Alberta does have deeper pockets than us, and so I would commit to looking into that and where that discrepancy comes from. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
I absolutely heard the Member and very much appreciate her comment.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, Skills Canada does still exist as does Skills NWT, and we make a contribution agreement to Skills NWT every year, and that's a cost shared agreement, and it is $155,000 between the GNWT and the federal government that is provided through contribution agreement to Skills NWT.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the way that it was restructured was that 55 percent of the funding would come from education, culture and employment, and that funding was focused on things like wellness support workers or personal support workers, or it could be through Indigenous counsellors within schools. It was really up to the schools to determine what that looked like at the end of the day. The only ask from ECE is that there was component -- a component of prevention that was within it and so that it wasn't exclusive to clinical care for one-on-one experiences, that...
Mr. Speaker, meetings with childcare providers are already happening. This is something that I take very seriously. I want our sector to have that stability. I think what would also be helpful, because it did come up yesterday and I do have more information, it was in regards to the ability for operators to have a contingency fund. There is the ability of them to have that with some restrictions, and they can identify -- sorry, there is a three-month cap on ELC ECE funding that can be used for a contingency fund. It says that the three-month equivalent can only equate to approximately 25...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and as the ADM was coming into the room, she did mention to me that those staff are housed in the North Slave office. So that would be here in Yellowknife.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there is quite a significant number that's under the actuals that's not reflected in the following years. And so what we're seeing there, and the reason that the subsequent numbers are so different, is there is $2 million -- sorry, lowered by $2 million due to sunset of education renewal and innovation funding. And then there's also fiscal sustainability reductions, and those fiscal sustainability reductions were what I was referring to with that switch to virtual training. And then there's -- there was also a significant overspend in that year...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm wondering if the Member can provide more information about specifically what section he's in within, and then we can speak directly to those sections. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 44)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to make sure that I was telling truths over here. It's found in the inclusive schooling line item.