I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 134 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.
Pursuant to the order of reference on Monday, March 18, 2024, and the motion adopted on Monday, December 11, 2023, the committee is meeting to discuss Bill C-59, an act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023 and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.
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 the benefit of the 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 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 our interpreters, I invite the participants to ensure they speak into the microphone into which their headset is plugged in and to avoid manipulating the earbuds by placing them on the table away from the microphone when they are not in use.
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.
I believe, Clerk, that all virtual witnesses have been tested and everything is fine. They're ready to go.
With us today, we have, as an individual, Mr. Jeffrey Simser, who is a barrister and solicitor.
Welcome, Mr. Simser.
From the Forum for Leadership on Water, we have Ralph Pentland, a member of that forum.
From the Regroupement d'ordres professionnels en santé mentale du Québec, we have Monsieur Félix-David Soucis, who is a psychoeducator, and Madam Josée Landry, who is a guidance counsellor.
Each of you now will have up to five minutes to make some opening remarks before we get into the members' questions.
We'll start with Mr. Simser, please.