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. Chair. Mr. Chair, under the climate change action plan, one of the deliverables that ECE has is to ensure that as the North changes due to climate change, whether that's coastal erosion or the melting of permafrost, that we are doing our part to ensure that we're preserving the artifacts that come out of that. It's important for me to note that these heritage centre funding were specific to infrastructure development dollars. They weren't for O and M or other types of project funding. They were specific to renovations on existing infrastructure buildings. Thank...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by just first thanking Members for continuing this conversation on the floor of the House and out in public as well because I do think this is a very important project, and having their voices lent to it is very important.
Mr. Speaker, while I am not responsible or accountable to the operations within Aurora College, I am accountable to the dollars that we as an Assembly approve for Aurora College for their running of their programs. When transformation was underway in the previous Assembly, it was agreed by senior management of...
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, this section actually goes between two different assistant deputy ministers in the way that it is in the main estimates, just so that everybody knows. The assistant deputy minister that is responsible for postsecondary is hiding in the little room. So just so that I I just wanted to be transparent and that I might have to phone a friend who is in a back room.
But for this one here for the reduction to Aurora College, what was done in our restoring balance exercise is the GNWT was we were instructed to go back and work with our departments, as well...
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, at this point, you know, these are early days, but do I have dreams? I most definitely do. And I've had the opportunity to travel to our immigration FTP meetings in Montreal just recently with deputy minister Fulford, and in those meetings had the opportunity to speak to things like settlement services and credentialing here in the territory, which are things that we hear quite a bit about, and especially credentialing just recently in the House here. So in addition to working with federal counterparts, working with or provincial counterparts outside...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is you know, there are some people who are on income assistance when they turn 19. And one of the changes that I think is really important that's been made to the program as well is it used to be that if there was an adult living in a home with a parent who was on income assistance, that that dependent child who was living at home would have to go out and go on income assistance right away. And one of the changes that has been made to the program is that that person can remain a dependent and not have to go on income assistance right...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's some great reports out there and there are some that talk about the cost of some of these programs. There's two different kind of ways that people can deliver universal basic income. There's the universal basic income. There's the universal basic income way, which has got quite a significant price tag on it and puts it somewhere as a potential you know, anywhere from $500 million to $800 million. And there's also a negative income tax style of a guaranteed basic income that is out there that is slightly more cost effective, but it is...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this House the board of governors does not have a seat and so you get to hold me accountable. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I assume I would need to know more information about what the Member is looking for as far as outcomes are concerned. But at this point, what I could point to for sure are the desire to increase deliverables from income assistance clients within the business plans, which speak to the number of income assistance clients, for example, that are employed and changes to the lives of income assistance clients like that and being able to support them through those pathways.
