Good afternoon, everyone. This is meeting number 13 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, on Wednesday, April 1, 2009. We are continuing our committee hearings on the situation in Sri Lanka, and we will have time this afternoon for committee business.
I apologize to our guests today. Question period went a little long, and then we had votes after question period. So my intent is to go past 4:30, and closer to 5 o'clock if our guests can stay a little longer. We would appreciate that. We will then have time for committee business after that.
Today we have a number of witnesses. First of all, Mr. Noor Nizam is appearing as an individual. Also, from McMaster University, we have Alexandre Sévigny, an associate professor in the department of communication studies and multimedia. Welcome. From the Sri Lanka United National Association of Canada, we have executive committee members Mr. Muttukumaru Chandrakumaran and Hasaka Ratnamalala. From the Tamil Catholic Mission in Montreal, we have Reverend Father Andrew Thavarajasingam.
Our committee provides time for each witness to make a short opening statement and then we'll go into the first round of questions. We should have time for two rounds of questions today. On days like this, I try to give everyone the opportunity to ask questions.
On a point of order, Mr. Obhrai.