I call the meeting to order.
Colleagues, we're going to get started.
Welcome to meeting number 97 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
I'll start with a few reminders.
This committee meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. As you know, the webcast will always show the person speaking, rather than the entirety of the committee, and screenshots are not permitted.
Colleagues, pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, January 31, 2024, and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, February 8, 2024, the committee is resuming its consideration of Bill C-355, an act to prohibit the export by air of horses for slaughter and to make related amendments to certain acts.
We have four witnesses on today's panel, so I am going to be moving quickly, colleagues, and I will be very tight on the time. Usually I'm quite liberal, but I'll be a little conservative today, I guess.
From the Air Line Pilots Association, International, appearing by video conference, we have Captain Tim Perry. Thank you for being here, Mr. Perry.
From the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, we have Sinikka Crosland, who is the president. Welcome.
From the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, we have Dr. Trevor Lawson. I believe he's a constituent of mine as well, so it's great to see you, Dr. Lawson.
From the Humane Society International/Canada, we have Ewa Demianowicz. We look forward to having your testimony.
You're joined by Dr. Nicholas Dodman, professor emeritus at Tufts University. He's joining us by video conference.
As you can see, colleagues, there are lots of witnesses and there will be great testimony here today.
I'd like to welcome Mr. MacDonald from Avalon, who's subbing in today on behalf of Mr. Drouin. We also have Mr. Dalton on behalf of Mr. Barlow.
Without further ado, I'm going to get right to it. We'll have five-minute opening remarks from each organization or witness.
Mr. Perry, from the Air Line Pilots Association, you have up to five minutes. It's over to you.