I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 20 of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the committee is commencing its study of the Main Estimates 2022‑23.
I will begin with a few reminders.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. The proceedings will be made available on the House of Commons website. For your information, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
Screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
Colleagues, that is again in the spirit of following the rules and regulations of the Board of Internal Economy as they relate to COVID-19 protocol.
It's great to see a committee room full again. It is starting to feel a little bit like normal. As was mentioned, we're going to be studying the main estimates.
We have our guests here today. We have our honourable minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau. Welcome, and thank you for your leadership and all your advocacy.
From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we have Sylvie Lapointe, vice-president, policy and programs branch. We also have Philippe Morel, vice-president of operations.
From the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, we have Paul Samson, who is the associate deputy minister
Welcome, Mr. Samson.
We also have Marie-Claude Guérard, assistant deputy minister, corporate management branch.
Welcome to you both here in the room, and welcome to our guests online, Ms. Lapointe and Mr. Morel.
We're going to start with a statement from our minister for up to seven and a half minutes, and then we'll take it over for questions. The second hour is with officials.
Minister, you have the floor.