I call this meeting to order. Welcome to meeting number 19 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Pursuant to the House of Commons order of reference adopted on Thursday, February 10, 2022, the committee is meeting on Bill C-8, an act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update tabled in Parliament on December 14, 2021, and other measures.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. So that you're aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
Today’s meeting is taking place in a webinar format. Webinars are for public committee meetings and are available only to members, their staff and witnesses. Members enter immediately as active participants. All functionalities for active participants remain the same. Staff will be non-active participants and will therefore only view the meeting in gallery view.
I take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendations from health authorities, as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on October 19, 2021, to remain healthy and safe, all those attending the meeting in person are to maintain two-metre physical distancing and must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is highly recommended that the mask be worn at all times, including when seated. Everyone must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer provided at the room entrance. As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting and I thank members in advance for their co-operation.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I will outline a few rules to follow.
Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings. The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen can be used at any time if you wish to speak or to alert the chair.
For members participating in person, proceed as you usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in the committee room. Keep in mind the Board of Internal Economy's guidelines for mask use and health protocols.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you're on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. For those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
As a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
With regard to a speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do our best to maintain a consolidated order of speaking for all members whether they are participating virtually or in person.
The committee agreed that during these hearings the chair enforce the rule that the response by a witness to a question take no longer than the time taken to ask the question. That said, I request that members and witnesses treat each other with respect and decorum. If you think the witness has gone beyond the time, it is the member's prerogative to interrupt or to ask the next question and to be mindful of other members' time allocation during the meeting.
I also request that members not go much over their allotted question time. Though we will not interrupt during a member's allotted time, I'd like to keep you informed that the clerk has two clocks to time our members and witnesses.
I now welcome our witnesses. For the first panel, from 10 until noon, we have our top officials from the Department of Employment and Social Development, Department of Finance, Department of Health, and Public Health Agency of Canada. Owing to the limited time for answers and questions, I will not be able to go through all their names. I believe we have 16 officials with us here today. The officials will be splitting up their time. They will have 20 minutes in total to make opening remarks.
I will ask Max Baylor, senior director, saving and investment section, business income tax division, tax policy branch of the Department of Finance, to start for us.
Mr. Baylor, the floor is yours.