Order, please.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is meeting number 30 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, Wednesday, August 26, 2009. I remind all members of our committee that we are televised today, so I would ask, members, that you turn off your cell phones. There will be much less chance then to be interrupted in our deliberations.
Today we're studying the treatment of Canadian citizens abroad. In our first hour we will hear from witnesses from the Department of Foreign Affairs: Leonard Edwards, Deputy Minister--welcome--and also Gerald Cossette, chief executive officer in the passport office. Also from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, we have Lillian Thomsen, director general of the executive services bureau. From the Canadian Border Services Agency, we have Luc Portelance, the executive vice-president.
We welcome you to our committee and we look forward to your comments.
We'll begin with Mr. Edwards.