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, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, conversations around this particular school and school infrastructure within YK1 are certainly happening specifically with the school board, and I intend to very purposely continue those conversations about the future of school infrastructure for Yellowknife, for YK1. And any kind of commitment would have to come with approvals of this House. There are two schools in here for -- that will be put into the planning phases through the approval of this capital budget. And certainly until we get to a point of finalizing those conversations with the...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the audit specifically called out gaps in strategies, like the mineral development strategy and economic opportunity strategy, and the vision would respond by aligning what we've heard, including through ongoing collaboration to implement the Mineral Resources Act and modernize our regulatory framework. So, in short, Mr. Speaker, the vision would unify this work, unify what we've learned, into a single focus statement to guide future economic efforts across the territory. And I'll end that there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm always happy to get together with education leaders in the Northwest Territories and have sat with the DEA in N'dilo with the Member and absolutely more than happy to continue those relationships. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, there are expectations -- It's hard for me to say a yes or no answer to this one because it really depends on what is required at the end of the day. The school assets of Yellowknife Catholic Schools as well as YK1, except for Sir John, are owned by the Yellowknife school boards themselves, and so it's their responsibility to maintain those pieces of infrastructure. That said, we work together on the bigger costs of the capital investments and major repairs to schools so it really would depend on what type of remediation and what type of...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, work on the economic vision is underway within the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It's important to mention to the Member that this document is not a strategy. It is intended to be an aspirational and values-based document but not a prescriptive plan. Really, it's a guiding framework for the territory, ensures we're aligned, and ultimately ends up being our combined elevator pitch, if you will. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, the school in Dettah was originally built in 1988, and currently the routine assessment that was done on that school does not show that it is in as much need as other schools in the Northwest Territories. That said, the school in N'dilo you will see is currently in the capital estimates to enter into the planning phase because it was found that that school is in great need and is currently -- has also a utilization rate of over 120 percent. So that school has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students that are in that school. It also does...
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 69)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, with YK1, the roof we are referring to is Mildred Hall's gym. And the roof project that was raised to us by Yellowknife Catholic Schools was the Weledeh St. Pat's gym. Thank you.
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.