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 69)
Thank you very much. And I'm going to preface this with the fact that, you know -- and this is not going to be shocking to anybody in this room -- I am not an engineer by any standard or not. And so just -- I think that this might warrant, you know, a technical briefing with some technical experts on the case as well. So what I can say is that in the routine assessments that are done, there are natural lifecycles to products that are reviewed and taken into account. And I think it's important too that we don't make assumptions about what is in a routine assessment and what is not in a routine...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the way the relationship works with Aurora College is I work closely with the chair, and the deputy minister works closely with the president, and together the president and the chair bring forward requests through our capital planning processes and they bring that forward to myself, and then I bring them forward to the financial management board for consideration. And so we continue to work on the priorities of Aurora College, but until such time as they are ready to bring forward any kind of capital infrastructure asks, I cannot bring that...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, while we work very closely with the Department of Infrastructure, the maintenance of assets are led by the Department of Infrastructure so that's work that is done under the Department of Infrastructure. What I can say is that there is an expectation of a five-year rolling assessment calendar. And maybe, Mr. Chair, through yourself, I would like to just check with my colleagues to see if they had any more specific information that they'd like to add at this time.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So to answer the Member's question -- or his original question, yes, the issue is being addressed. There are other mechanisms in some of the school boards. There are reserves that the school boards have in order to address infrastructure specifically. There is also other mechanisms like deferred maintenance funding that is available through the GNWT. And then in some schools, they do have dollars already allotted from their surplus to be able to fund things like this. And as we indicated in question period and also in other conversations, we are honouring...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in regards to busing, that is something that is afforded through some funding that supports that with the school funding formula. And so that's found in our main estimates that we review every year in February and March. That said, to answer the Member's question, busing specifically for Tlicho communities has not been raised in our education leaders' meetings but certainly is something that is undertaken and pursued by education bodies themselves who decide how they're going to support that in each of their communities and what way to best address...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can I please pass to assistant deputy minister Locke-Setter. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, information is requested from education bodies between now and January. So it's quite a bit in advance so that there's time for planning and budgeting of what that looks like and then comes forward, for example, to Cabinet in the summertime for us to be going through approval. So it's quite a detailed process. And our ask is that people express what it is that they're looking for. And as I indicated in my response to the Member for Range Lake, there's a significant amount of requests that come in every year, and this funding represents about 30...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. On my left, I have Jamie Fulford, deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment. And on my right, Terri-Lynn Locke-Setter, assistant deputy minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, while they are still both under the same division, they do have different purposes, they do have different design. Income assistance is a program that is structured around the basic needs of residents who would not necessarily have a mechanism to pay those late fees because education, culture and employment is funding them based on their entirety of their basic needs whereas student financial assistance is structured differently and also does have an expectation that students contribute to their post-secondary costs as well. Thank you, Mr...