I'll call the meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 35 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Pursuant to Standing order 81(4) and the order of reference of Thursday, February 25, 2021, the committee is undertaking its study of the main estimates 2021-22.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. Therefore, members may be attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.
The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. So that you are aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of the screen is not permitted.
To ensure the meeting runs smoothly, I would like to share some rules with you.
Before you speak, please wait for me to recognize you by name. If you are participating via video conference, click on the microphone to mute it. The microphones of participants in the room will, as usual, be monitored by the proceedings and verification officer.
I remind you that all comments from members and witnesses should be directed to the chair. When you do not have the floor, please mute your microphone.
With that, I would like to welcome our witness.
Madam Minister, we are pleased to welcome you today to our study of the 2021-2022 main estimates.
Also, I would like to welcome Ms. Anita Vandenbeld, MP. We also have MP Anju Dhillon.
Thank you for joining us.
I believe those are all the new ones we have, other than the minister.
We have the minister for the first hour.
Madam Minister, you have the floor for seven and a half minutes to make your statement.