Mahsi. Mr. Johnson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I guess I'm going to say that I will offer no opinions on what I think LHOs in the communities should do. I'll leave that up to community MLAs and them. But I noted in Yellowknife the staff, they're not public servants, and they have quite, you know, high maintenance costs. They're nowhere near the private sector in what it costs to maintain and operate buildings. You know, perhaps that's a good thing, the number of staff they have, if you need to get something fixed in a public housing unit in Yellowknife.

But I'm just wondering if we've done some sort of cost comparison of different options. Or is it cheaper essentially to have LHOs with staff who are not GNWT public servants? Is that part of the reason for their existence? I'm just kind of confused about how this came to be, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Johnson. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And this has been something that has probably been, you know, functioning in the smaller communities and the larger centres for quite some time. I'm not too familiar with the history and why we created the LHOs and why there's the board structure. I will have Ms. -- President Young respond to the answer. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi. President Young.

Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just, yeah, want to continue on with this conversation. I too find this all to be quite confusing and think that it definitely needs to not be a one-size-fits-all answer because for me, if an Indigenous organization is doing it, that's great; we're going to empower them and then to take care of their people. But in Yellowknife, I find it hard because I don't know how I can ask or intervene because it is a third party entity. It doesn't make sense here because we don't have an entity that's, you know, an Indigenous organize -- or government that's specific to Yellowknife itself. So I also agree that some sort of change for maybe Yellowknife and efficiencies could be found and then, yes, leave communities to come up with their own solutions for that.

My question, though, is around the apprenticeship program here. I'm glad to see there's more money there -- I'm so blind -- between -- from the 2020 actuals to now. But I guess my question is knowing that apprenticeship programs and such are a continuum, and they -- you know, there's a three, four-year type situation that goes on, how do we make sure that we're being efficient and not losing apprentices out of the system? We have a high turnover often of employment in the North, and I guess I worry that there would be employees that start an apprenticeship program maybe with the housing corp or somewhere else, and then they can't move that to others, or can they? Like, so are we ensuring that they're not just getting kind of these piecemeal parts of an apprenticeship program without actually getting to be apprentices? And I'm wondering what mechanism -- or sorry, getting to be journey people, and what mechanism is being used to kind of track that efficiency? I'm not sure if I really explained that well but the Minister or deputy minister can comment. Thank you.

Mahsi, Ms. Nokleby. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And apprenticeship is highlighted in our contracts going forward when we're putting out that we have such a huge unit delivery this year. So then I think the last number that I did have, and Jim could correct me if I'm wrong, but I think had 19 apprenticeships all together. And currently right now, we do have apprenticeships that are required through those contracts. And the other thing is that we do have such a large construction delivery that I would like to see that opportunity for who's entered into those apprenticeships be able to move on to the existing projects going forward. But -- and how we track them and take care of those numbers, I'll turn it over to Jim. But the other thing I wanted to highlight is that we do have red seals, and we do have apprenticeship certifications at the ground level. I'll just -- if vice-president Jim Martin can elaborate on the response, thank you.

Mahsi. Vice-president Martin.

Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for that answer. And I guess to the -- I'm assuming that with an apprenticeship program that it's not always tied specifically to the employer but is an overarching program, and I see people nodding their heads "yes", so that's -- that's good. I guess that was where my concern is.

I'm just looking at the training and support workshops line. You know, there's only the 2,000 spent in 2020-2021 and then, you know, back up to 250 -- I'm assuming that these are -- these numbers are so low because of COVID? Could the Minister confirm that, from the 2020-2021 actuals? Thanks.

Mahsi, Ms. Nokleby. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm going to turn the response over to president Young. But I do know that for the number of our training opportunities for our workers that there was a delay in the delivery. So I'll just -- I'll turn it over to president Young. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mahsi. President Young.

Mahsi. Ms. Nokleby.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, that I would expect. I guess, then, leading to my next question would be has there been an ability or an interest or looking at what it would cost to put some of these programs on -- put them virtually, and could they even be put virtually because it is a trade type -- or some of it is very hands-on training. And then as well too, I think this is a great way to support skill sets so -- or to increase capacity within communities. So is there a want to, like, increase this funding over the next while, or is this going to be high? Is this high just as a catchup, and we'll see it decrease later? To me, it's a great line item and I'd like to see more of it. Thank you.

Mahsi, Ms. Nokleby. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll have president Young elaborate on the response. Thank you.

President Young.