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, Madam Chair. And thank you for the question. So in regards to the Student Financial Assistance northern bonus program, the changes that you see within this budget are still reflective of that. The reason being is that we passed the previous year's budget in May/June, so it was different from how we normally do it. And so because the northern bonus program had already had an intake in April of last year, it meant that we had already spent that money. So we were able to reduce the northern bonus program in 2024-2025 by $360,000, and the remaining amount, the $240,000 needed to be...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am more than happy to send the letters that I have sent to the federal government and share those with committee.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Yes, please, Madam Chair.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you, Madam Chair. We've never met our allocation before. So this is new. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, in regards to that line item -- and forgive me, I'm just working to pull that up here. And that was in my -- that's -- sorry, and I apologize because it was in a previous year's budget, so I don't have it readily available in front of me. And, sorry, it -- so for that specific program, it was historically undersubscribed, so we were able to kind of trim off the top without trimming in to what was traditionally used by people accessing that program. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it's not a situation where I'm going through their budget line by line with them. They have base funding that they get through this process here. If, for example, if they have a need for forced growth -- a great example of that that I believe is in this is their -- it, sorry, it is in this, is the forced growth for their lease payments and such. That's something that would come through the financial management board. It would go through our normal vetting processes with that. But line by line, they're not going through the budget with me, and I...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it's a nontaxable monthly benefit paid to families based on net family income, the number of children, and their ages that they have. I can also just -- the Member couldn't find it here because it actually falls under the Department of Finance, and it's under the Income Tax Act, so it doesn't appear here. And our -- it's very common that our residents don't realize that we pay this benefit because it is provided alongside the Canada child benefit. The Member is correct in that. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'd be happy to provide both the letter that I received from the federal government and the ones that went back. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the department certainly is a group of very enthusiastic and creative people. A lot of them used to actually be in the classroom and wanted to move to the department to hold different roles within education in the territory. So certainly creative, certainly looking for other ways. Whether or not they have partnered specifically with Ecology North, I couldn't say. I can say that as a student in the Northwest Territories, had the opportunity to have Ecology North be within our school system in certain ways and other NGOs across the territory.
Wha...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 45)
Thank you so much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, those 60 applications came in prior to the pause last year. So that was a commitment that was made last year before we paused the program in July. And so, really, the decision to honour that commitment was made to be fair to the people that the commitment was made to and then beyond that, we used the 90 -- the 90 allocations that we had left to ensure that we were focusing on urgency and retention. Thank you.
