We will now recommence and continue the stimulating discussions, as part of the process of preparing recommendations for the finance minister for the upcoming federal budget.
Thank you all for being here. Thank you for the submissions that you previously forwarded to us.
I will give you an indication when you have a minute remaining in your presentations and when you have less than that. Then without any bias or prejudice, I will cut you off at five minutes. I must do this to allow for discussion with the panel members.
Anything you miss in your presentations, work it into your answer. That'll be the coaching I'll give you this morning.
It's a pleasure to be here in Halifax. We'll start with the presentations now.
Chris Ferns is here.
Chris, I understand you're bringing some introductory comments on behalf of two organizations this morning. Would those be the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers?