I call the meeting to order.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the 35th meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. Today we are reviewing the process for considering the estimates and supply.
We're very fortunate and very pleased to welcome two interesting witnesses today. First, with us in person is Ned Franks, professor emeritus, Department of Political Studies at Queen's University, and an authority on these issues. Welcome, Mr. Franks.
As well, we are very grateful and appreciative to have Mr. Joachim Wehner with us from a very long distance—Cape Town, South Africa. We thank you for staying up late today. We very much wanted to hear your testimony. I believe it will be about 9:30 at night in Cape Town, but you are most welcome, and we appreciate your being here very much.
The custom of our committee is to ask both of our witnesses to make brief presentations on the subject for five or ten minutes or so. Then we will open rounds of questioning from the members of Parliament of the three parties represented here today.
Perhaps we could start with Professor Franks, if that's agreeable.