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, absolutely, the SCIP funding is one of the methods that the department supports families. Another funding amount that is used to support families is ECE does provide $362,000 annually to the NWT Disabilities Council to support families that do have children with complex needs. In addition, I know that even day home -- people who want to open day homes, and specifically serve children with complex needs, have reached out to me as MLA and inquired about what types of supports they would receive from the department. And so the department works...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I committed, there are currently six small capital projects on the books for this school that will be completed between 2025 and 2030. And in addition to that, I can also confirm for the Member that there are currently planning funding approved in addition to the two that we're looking at in capital estimates right now, but for four additional schools in the territory. And those four that are getting large capital planning right now are Deninu School in Fort Resolution, Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, Alexis Arrowmaker School in Wekweeti, and MJ...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we look at how many students are in all grades. We have enrolment figures that come in from education bodies every year, and we also track that compared to the capacity of each school across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am all ears when it comes to suggestions around solutions, so I appreciate the Member's suggestion and will absolutely discuss with the department. And I appreciate that. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by acknowledging the amount of work that families do to support their children, absolutely, of course. And children with disabilities, their parents are absolute champions and are they're biggest champions for their kids as well. So I just want to acknowledge the amount of work that parents do day in day out.
A few of the things that have been done within the school system in order to increase supports are, for example, working with education bodies to provide training within the school system to education assistants. I've...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was very happy to accept an invitation from the Member to the community, to come see the school, when it works for community leadership, and I very much look forward to that. I can also confirm for the Member that there are currently six small capital projects in the 20-year capital plan for this particular school that will be completed between 2025 and 2030. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the capacity of Mezi School is 170, and the current student head count is 142 students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm going to start my statement in Dene Kede.
[Translation] Mr. Speaker, education is rooted in place and culture and cannot be nurtured in isolation. As guiding place of legislation from our junior kindergarten to grade 12 education system, it is Education Act includes voices and perspective Indigenous government and our education partners. If -- respect of other and our education partners. The 20th legislation will be -- will mark the first time GNWT codevelops legislation social policy with Indigenous government through Northwest...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I don't have that information on hand at this time, but -- yes, I don't have that information on hand at this time. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I can definitely share that the mayor has not raised concerns about this particular project to me but certainly this project's lifetime predates my time in this seat, and so with your permission, Mr. Chair, through yourself, I'd like to pass it to the deputy minister.
