Welcome back, everyone. It's good to see everyone. I can see everyone online.
This is different for me, because I'm actually now in the committee room itself. It's quite cavernous and echoey in here; nevertheless, it's always very nice to see everyone, whether it be virtual or not.
Now that I am here in person, I want to say thank you to our interpreters, our staff and our technical staff as well. I may not have thanked you before, but it's not because I wasn't thinking of you; it's because I am here now in person. Thank you so much for all that you do.
Let us now get to it. Today, of course, we're continuing our study. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on October 23, 2020, the committee resumes its study of the challenges and issues faced by the arts, culture, heritage and sport sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are going to have two hours of testimony, broken up into two one-hour panels, with three witnesses in the first hour and three in the second hour.
Here are our witnesses for the first hour. From Union des Artistes, we have Sophie Prégent, president, and Pascale St-Onge, president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture. From Orford Music, we have Wonny Song, executive and artistic director. From the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, we have Lisa Rubin, executive and artistic director.
I can see hands waving already. What we are going to do is have opening statements of five minutes or less each. I will give you some leeway, but of course an hour runs by very quickly, so let's get right to it. I'll time you for the first five minutes.
First, we have two representatives from Union des Artistes. Could I see a show of hands to see who is going to do the speaking, either Sophie or Pascale?