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, a lot of the funding -- well, a portion of the funding goes to classroom assistants, and those classroom assistants could be supporting one student, they could be supporting multiple students. Funding also goes for speech-language pathologists. It goes to occupational therapy. The funding is also used for things like pontoon boats or skidoos in order to do on the land activities as well. And so one could say that this would have an impact directly or indirectly to every student across Canada. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the Member is right, there was a news release that went out yesterday from Yellowknife Catholic schools expressing future risk. Mr. Speaker, we are waiting to hear from the federal government as to what changes they're making to the current program, and we expect to hear more on budget day. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within our system, the department of education largely connects with the teachers themselves and the educators and makes sure that they're providing them with the support that they need. This can be either through meetings that I have with chairs and superintendents, along with officials from the department in our ed leaders’ meetings that happen multiple times a year. This happens also when I sit down with the NWTTA multiple times a year. But there's also professional development that happens from the department to the teachers, and a lot of that...
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while absolutely we respect section 23 rights of Canadians and uphold those rights as a territory, we've also heard frequently in this House this week about the need to make sure that we're also balancing the needs of all kids in all schools across this territory. So one of my responsibilities is to ensure that that need is balanced across the territory and that we are able to maintain and invest in the assets that we do have. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am also a product of the French immersion system and believe that representation certainly matters. And that said, Mr. Speaker, I am currently working on some regulation changes alongside the CSFTNO here in the Northwest Territories. Specifically, our regulations speak to the fact that currently French-first language schools are found in Yellowknife and Hay River, and so we are removing the designation of those two communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, all eligible applicants from both February and July 2025 intakes were accepted and are currently being processed. Anybody who was not an eligible applicant was immediately notified that their application was ineligible, so they will need to reapply for the third intake of 2025. Thank you.
Debates of
, 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to recognize today our interpreters. My favourite day of session is the day that you and I get to have lunch with all of them. I appreciate the time they spend with each of us and the extra time they spend with me helping me on my statements. I'd also like to do a special recognition of Susie Napayk-Short, our Inuktitut translator. It is her birthday today, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Our plan at the moment -- and we've been working on it for the entire year now -- is working on a review of our inclusive schooling directive. And so a lot of the funding that goes into schools is to support students, for us to meet them where they're at and make sure that they are supported in their classrooms. And so that review will tell us what those recommendations are, what teachers are looking for, what families are looking for, what students are looking for, so that we can take a look at that directive and take a look at our system globally. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the opportunity I have to connect with education leaders is through our education leader table meetings, and I can certainly commit to continuing to bring this forward to them. Attendance is something that we talk about quite often, and the Member has my commitment absolutely to continue to keep this top of mind and top of discussion because it's vitally important that our kids are in school. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of our schools in the Northwest Territories have a staff member that they dedicate to supporting students and families. These days as well, we have many of our schools who have our kind of peer counselling program or wellness worker program, and so those are roles as well that also help students work through the variety and spectrum of challenges that our students are experiencing these days. And other programs that have seen quite a lot of success are our healthy foods program in our schools, which do draw students in. We end up with warm...
