Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
It's great to be back as we have concluded our recess and continue our work on Canada's 150th birthday. We're very pleased to have a number of witnesses with us. First, from the City of Ottawa, we have Mayor Jim Watson. Welcome, sir.
There are also Katherine Hobbs and Rainer Bloess, councillors with the City of Ottawa. Welcome to all of you.
As well we have Michele McKenzie, the president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission; and Catherine Beauchamp, also of the Canadian Tourism Commission. Welcome to both of you.
Each group will have 10 minutes to present and then we'll move into our questions and answers. We'll be meeting until noon, when we'll switch over to our next panel.
With that, Mayor Watson, the floor is yours.