I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 131 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), the committee is meeting to discuss Equifax’s recent report detailing the soaring mortgage and credit card delinquency rates and rising number of bankruptcies in Canada.
Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to Standing Order 15.1. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.
I would like to make a few comments for members.
Although this room is equipped with a powerful audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to the interpreters and cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too close to the 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.
This is a reminder 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 best we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.
Members, we are on the Standing Order 106(4) request.
MP Hallan.