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 very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. So in regards to the community learning centres, where we're at right now is working with Aurora College to gain clarity on what part of that space they continue to filling within communities and which part of that space they intend to pull back from so that we know as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment where we need to kind of react and be able to work with communities on ensuring access to adult education in small communities across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member. And I think it's fair to recognize that there have certainly -- I don't think it's a secret to anybody in this room, there's certainly been some growing pains as far as implementing our $10 dollar a day average childcare across the territory.
Our existing wage grid regulations have not fully come into force. So right now, ECE is working with operators to determine what that looks like, so with our centre-based operators. And that also means that not everyone has gone through the process of doing their certification and so not...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that we have a real focus from this Assembly on supporting healthy families, and I think that literacy is a huge component of family units and family structures. And so what I would say to that is that has everything to do with, you know, how we are growing babies on the inside and continuing to support children once they're on the outside and how we're supporting teens and adults and communities. I think literacy and the health of our family units and the health of our communities absolutely relates to literacy. And so I think that has to...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for coming back to this question.
Mr. Speaker, it certainly has not fallen off the table, and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment does afford some funding for family literacy and then also does afford funding, like, directly to communities, directly to NGOs, and then also enlists the NWT Literacy Council to afford some of that. So in 2024-2025, ECE provided the NWT Literacy Council with $420,000 in funding. And this funding is used to train, mentor, and support community members to design, develop, and deliver...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are certainly some options for other funding. I did use the example of fundraising. If there is another source that a childcare facility is looking at bringing in to access funding, certainly would want to know about it and be able to work alongside the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to explore that option. We certainly do want our childcare facilities to stay open and stay operational.
I think a couple of things here, Mr. Speaker, I will absolutely acknowledge that the original agreement was signed before extreme inflation...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's everything from training workshops, workforce development, through Education, Culture and Employment, not just ITI. There's also support afforded through on-the-job training. And so ECE does do wage subsidy programs that employers also do have access to. Workshops are everything from arts focused to tourism focused and even agriculture focused as well. And you know, when I look at the numbers, there's certainly some good activity happening within the region, but also always, always looking for more opportunities as well. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point we're working with Aurora College to really gain clarity on what the picture will look like, and our actions from there will be to determine how we go about working with our education partners and stakeholders across the territory to ensure that at the end of the day we still are providing options for adult education and opportunities for education and employment in our small communities across the territory. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that this afternoon those reports are now online and as soon as I stop answering questions, I'll be able to send an email to my colleagues to let them know those links. So, Mr. Speaker, there -- to start, there was a facilities master plan that was released by the GNWT in September of 2022. In April of 2024, there was community learning centre reports, along with What We Heard reports, that were commissioned by the GNWT and also community learning centres facilities report. These reports, Mr. Speaker, did not identify the closure of...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly pull that back up for the Member. We did all receive an email that spoke directly to that. I just don't have it immediately at my fingertips right this very second. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am in direct contact with the senior staff of education, culture and employment seven days a week unfortunately for them, but I very much appreciate how accessible they are. And as soon as I did receive the correspondence from the MLA, I immediately did reach out to the deputy minister because like I did say last year, these relationships are paramount and we want to ensure that the childcare sector is well supported and well informed and has access to answers to their questions. Thank you.
