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. 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. So within that MOU that I spoke of, it is a contribution agreement that does go to Aurora College to be able to deliver the adult learning and basic education throughout the CLCs throughout the Northwest Territories, so that funding ultimately would -- any that was not used through the contribution agreement and the MOU with Aurora College would then come back to the department of education, and the department of education would still have the responsibility for ensuring that we're enhancing those opportunities within communities. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't speak to the methodology that Aurora College took in coming to this conclusion and what kind of engagement that they did do. But given that it was very much a shock for the Northwest Territories when this information was released, I would venture to say that many people didn't feel that they felt that they knew that this was coming. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my goal is to always say yes, especially when it comes to transparency. I will note that this report was commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure so I will say yes with a caveat of being able to make sure that there isn't any privacy concerns from the Department of Infrastructure or concerns about any commercial information given that they are the owners of the report. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, right now, I can commit to the Member and to the public that this program will be reopened in the month of February and that in the, you know, coming week, we'll be able to inform the public as to what that will look like, but that is the extent of the commitments I can give on timing right now. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in multiple instances, the department of education hasn't even had to pick up the phone. As soon as the media articles hit the online waves there, the phone started ringing. My phone certainly did and as well as the department as well as Aurora College. So once we have clarity as to kind of what the landscape looks like, then would be the opportune time to start making phone calls and being able to actually have concrete conversations about how Aurora College intends to go forward so that we can have conversations based on known factors. Thank you...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for providing me with the opportunity to speak to this.
I want to start by acknowledging that this would definitely be a very concerning time for people who are waiting for the opportunity to put their name into a very limited number of nominations that the NWT currently has. Our numbers were cut from 300 to 150 by the federal government. So we did put a pause on the program so that we could get together with some of our stakeholders and partners to reevaluate what this program could look like upon reopening it. And so what I can...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, right now Education, Culture and Employment is working with Aurora College to gain clarity on what aspects of adult learning and basic education that's delivered through CLCs is going to continue to be delivered through CLCs and what parts will not be. From there, ECE will be able to determine a go-forward plan because they still do maintain the responsibility at the end of the day of ensuring that there are access to education and access to employment opportunities within communities. So depending on what parts of that Memorandum of...
