I will call this meeting to order, and I will ask for the room to be cleared of any media presence. Mr. Barrett, your hand has been noted; I will come to you momentarily.
Welcome to meeting number six of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. The committee is meeting today because a request was received from four members of the committee pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), to discuss their request to undertake a study to review the safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest in federal government expenditure policies.
Today's meeting is taking place in person, and the proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Just so that you are aware, the cameras will always show the person speaking, rather than the entire room as a whole. Please also note that sometimes there is a delay in your speaker being turned off. Should the meeting be suspended, just be aware of this.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules that are special, given the times we're in.
Occupational health and safety have requested that we limit our movement in the room and that we wear a mask unless we are seated, at which time the mask can be removed. Floor markings indicate the path of travel, which you will note goes counterclockwise around the room; please honour that. Individuals should respect physical distancing and remain two metres from one another, particularly when without a mask. Seats and microphones have been placed in a manner that respects physical distancing; therefore, we ask that you remain in the location that has been assigned to you throughout this meeting, please. If you leave the meeting and someone is expected to take your seat, we ask that you use a cleaning wipe, which is provided here in the room, and that you wipe the armrests, the table, the microphone, the earpiece and the surfaces around you. The same applies if you are taking someone else's seat; please proceed with cleaning before doing so.
To minimize health risks, you will note that limited personnel have been permitted to attend today. Staff have received a phone number where they can listen to these proceedings in real time, so we trust they're joining us from afar. With regard to washrooms, the washrooms on this floor have been opened 30 minutes preceding this meeting and will remain open until 30 minutes after this meeting. You will note that no paper documents have been distributed here today. All documents have been kept online, and you can access them there. Should you require a copy of a document, please advise the clerk of your need by immediately emailing the committee at [email protected]. Hopefully you've all come prepared.
Mr. Fergus, do you have an immediate question to that?