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.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say that meeting with Indigenous governments is something that Cabinet does often, and education always shows up on the agendas for those meetings. In addition, I meet with the development corporations that are associated with our Indigenous governments and have met with the Tlicho Investment Corporation just recently as well and are having conversations about this very thing. I'm doing those conversations in my role as Minister of education, not through Aurora College, but certainly would want to invite the Member to work with the college to...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as Cabinet, the financial management board, we looked at all programs from -- well, not all, sorry -- most programs from our departments that were not legislated or afforded through federal funding, and we evaluated what we could redirect for -- because we have a lot of spending happening in our health program, and we know from Members on the floor of this House, and even from our own constituencies, that health care is very important to residents of the Northwest Territories, and we desperately wanted to see more funding redirected to that sector...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I'm hearing from operators, and from Members on the floor of this House, is that they're looking to pay their staff more, and they're in a situation where they are provided a certain amount from Education, Culture and Employment in order to do that, and Education, Culture and Employment can only cover a certain amount of that based on our budgets. What I can say is the bulk of increases to the early learning and childcare budgets for the Department of education have been from this program and even right across the department, Mr. Speaker. And...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when that legislation does take place, it creates much more separation between the government and Aurora College. I can assure the Member that work to lead us to that point is still happening. We are still going through the process of accreditation. We are still -- Aurora College is still working on its program development, is still working on its policies. They're still very much working towards all of these pieces that will lead to Polytechnic University Act, but there's a lot to be done between now and then, including accreditation, and other...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure Aurora College staff will be happy to hear the Member's compliments in regards to new legislation. That is certainly something that needs to be worked on in the life of this Assembly. And as the Member knows, Members have received an embargoed copy of the new mandate agreement which does have an implementation plan in it and that will be released publicly tomorrow -- later this week. Later this week. I don't -- yes, later this week. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my last -- I know which early learning and childcare institution the Member is speaking with. My last conversation with the executive director of that institution, I did say any time you want to have a sit down I am more than happy. I can also inform the Member that there's been three separate meetings since last Friday with this particular childcare provider, and I believe there was even one as recently as today, Mr. Speaker. I'm always happy to sit down and have these conversations, but I will also say that we have to ensure that our program...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe in the Member's statement he referenced legacy royalties from the site. The GNWT certainly would not be in a position to ask for those back. And then in -- however, Indigenous governments certainly could have their own conservations and bilaterals with the federal government.
In terms of federal engagement, certainly the government does have a federal engagement strategy and has identified key infrastructure projects as of what they are going to the federal government and advocating for. When it comes to our FTP tables, our federal...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Member's asking for the publication of it, I think that tabling it here in the House is a great way to make sure that all of our colleagues can see it and the Member can share his hard work on that. And I look forward to continuing conversations about NORTRAN with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 9-20(1), Report on the Review of Bill 8: An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Aurora College is currently working with the Department of Finance to help affected employees work through the staffing process and work through what comes next for them, including looking at lists of available positions within the GNWT. So I can confirm that Aurora College is working closely with the Department of Finance on this. Thank you.
