Welcome to meeting number 21 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, February 24, 2021, and the motion adopted by the committee on February 25, 2021, the committee is beginning its study of Bill C-206, an act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (qualifying farming fuel).
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. Therefore, members could be attending in person in the room, or remotely using the Zoom application.
Proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.
I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that screenshots—taking photos of your screen—are not permitted.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the videoconference, please click on the microphone to unmute yourself. Those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
I would like now to welcome our witness, member of Parliament for Northumberland—Peterborough South and sponsor of Bill C-206, Mr. Philip Lawrence.
Welcome, Mr. Lawrence. You may give an opening statement of up to seven and a half minutes.