That will ensure that our witnesses are not held up and delayed with their time, and we will get our two hours of committee.
Welcome to meeting 109 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Pursuant to Standing Order 83.1 and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, June 8, 2023, the committee is meeting to discuss the pre-budget consultations in advance of the 2024 budget.
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. I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members.
Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your microphone, and please mute yourself when you are not speaking. There is interpretation. For those on Zoom, you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of the floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.
Although this room is equipped with a powerful audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to the interpreters and can cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too close to a microphone. We therefore ask all participants to exercise a high degree of caution when handling the earpieces, especially when your microphone or your neighbour's microphone is turned on. In order to prevent incidents and safeguard the hearing health of the interpreters, I invite participants to ensure that they speak into the microphone into which their headset is plugged and to avoid manipulating the earbuds by placing them on the table away from the microphone when they are not in use.
I remind everyone that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as well as we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.
In accordance with the committee's routine motion concerning connection tests for witnesses, I have been informed that everybody has been tested and everything is good. The tests have been done and everything is working.
Members—before I welcome the witnesses—I will say that we had an excellent tour, by all accounts, of Atlantic Canada. We had the opportunity to be on the ground in P.E.I, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, to hear from stakeholders and witnesses and to get a lot of great testimony for our study.
Now we're back here in Ottawa and we're delighted to have the witnesses we have before us today. From HEC Montréal, we have Pierre-Olivier Pineau, who is a professor and chair in energy sector management and is appearing as an individual. From the agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University, we have the director and professor Sylvain Charlebois. From the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, we have the national president, Eleanor Noble, and the national executive director, Marie Kelly. We have, from the C.D. Howe Institute, the associate vice-president of public affairs, Benjamin Dachis. Joining us via video conference, we have, from the Centre for Future Work, the economist and director Jim Stanford. From Confédération des syndicats nationaux, we have adviser, research and status of women, François Bélanger; and the treasurer, Yvan Duceppe.
Welcome, everybody. We are going to start with Pierre-Olivier Pineau for five minutes.