Good morning, colleagues.
Eid Moubarak to everyone celebrating this day in Canada and around the world.
Welcome to meeting No. 17 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Pursuant to the motion adopted on January 31, the committee is meeting on its study of the current situation in Ukraine.
As always, interpretation is available through the globe icon at the bottom of your screen.
For members participating in person, please do keep in mind the Board of Internal Economy's guidelines for mask use and health protocols.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mic should be on mute.
A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.
Colleagues, just before we welcome our witnesses, I want to raise with you the fact that we have a number of housekeeping items before us. My proposal is that we discuss them with the vice-chairs and Ms. McPherson through email in preparation for Thursday and that we adopt these decisions on Thursday.
We're dealing with a number of requests to appear. We are dealing with a motion that proposed that we reinvite the witnesses who were not heard at our last session. There is an opportunity to do so on May 9. We are dealing, importantly, with two proposals for committee travel, which we should adopt unanimously and well before Friday so that the opportunity exists for the committee to travel during the period of June to October.
If that's amenable with colleagues, I will work closely with your vice-chairs and Ms. McPherson so that these decisions are ready for quick approval on Thursday.
I would now like to welcome our first panel of witnesses before the committee, and thank them for agreeing to take the time to share their views with us.
With us today are two representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Leslie Scanlon, Ambassador of Canada to Poland and Belarus, and Heidi Kutz, Senior Arctic Official and Director General, Arctic, Eurasian and European Affairs.
From the Joint Delegation of Canada to NATO, we have with us David Angell, ambassador and permanent representative to the North Atlantic Council.
Welcome to our witnesses.
Ambassador Angell, I understand you'll be making the remarks on behalf of Global Affairs today. With that, I will give you the floor for five minutes of opening remarks.
Please go ahead, sir.