Good afternoon, everyone. I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 111 of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I want to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
Today, we are working in a hybrid format. As usual, there are many people virtually and many people in the room. While public health authorities have not mandated those in the room to wear a mask, I am suggesting that you do, even though I don't have one on.
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss some housekeeping.
You're not allowed to take pictures of this meeting. The meeting will be online and you'll be able to view it later on.
Every time you speak, please go through the chair.
This room is equipped with a powerful audio system. It is important that we don't get feedback, because it really affects the hearing of the interpreters. If you have any secondary devices, please don't put them close to your microphone because it could cause feedback.
Today we are studying the issue of a national forum on the media, and we have the following individuals.
We have Shree Paradkar, a columnist with Toronto Star Newspapers.
We have Sylvain Chamberland, chief executive officer of Arsenal Media.
We have Éric‑Pierre Champagne, president of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec.
We have Brandon Gonez, chief executive officer of Gonez Media Inc.
We have Pierre Tousignant, president of the Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs de Radio‑Canada.
Finally, from Unifor, we have Lana Payne, national president, and Marc Hollin, national representative.
Each witness will have five minutes to speak for their group.
I will give you a 30-second shout to let you know that you should wrap up. You may not finish everything you want to say, but there will be a question-and-answer segment where you can elaborate on some of the things you didn't get to speak about.
We now begin with Ms. Paradkar. You may proceed for five minutes.