I officially call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 28 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, March 24, the committee is meeting on the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today's meeting is taking place by video conference and the proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website.
I just want to point out, on a technicality, that if you're speaking in English, you should select English at the bottom of the screen. If you're speaking in French, select French. It's easier for the interpreters that way.
With that, then, I will welcome the minister and the witnesses. I'll not go through the list of witnesses, but with the minister, we have witnesses from the Canada Revenue Agency, the Department of Finance and the Department of Employment and Social Development.
Mr. Minister, we certainly welcome you. We know you have an opening statement, but I do want to say in beginning, thank you for the fourth report, the bi-weekly reports of parts 3, 8, and 18 of Bill C-13, related to the COVID-19 emergency response. We appreciate that.
Also, a special thank you to the people who prepare that report, the people who work in the backrooms who we never see, who do a lot of work for Canadians. You can give them our thanks and let them know that we appreciate what they're doing for Canadians and what they're doing in preparing the reports for us at the finance committee.
Certainly, Sean and I thank you for today's announcement as well, a welcome announcement on the fisheries side.
Minister, we welcome you. The floor is yours.