Good afternoon, all.
I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 115 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.
You know the rules, but I'll quickly tell them to you.
Although the parties have not mandated us to wear masks, it's always advisable that you do so to prevent infection and respiratory illnesses. Second, I want you to remember that you are not allowed to take photographs of the screen or any pictures at all during the meeting, but it will be available on the website later on. I want to remind you of a very important thing. The interpreters can sometimes have a lot of harm done to their ears, so if you have a device, do not put it next to your microphone and make sure that it doesn't interfere with static or crackling so that we don't assault the ears of our interpreters.
Today we are meeting with BCE Inc. We have two witnesses here today. We have Mirko Bibic, president and chief executive officer, here by video conference. We also have Robert Malcolmson, executive vice-president and chief legal and regulatory officer, who is also here by video conference.
The rules are basically that you have five minutes, Mr. Bibic, to make your opening statement, and then we will follow up with questions and answers from the floor. I will give you a 30-second shout-out so that you can have 30 seconds to wrap up. Remember, even if you cannot make your full statement in that five minutes, you're going to be able to expand on your statement when the question and answer period comes.
I shall begin—