I will call this meeting to order. This is meeting number 19 of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
I have a couple of housekeeping notes before we get going. Number one, colleagues, is that I'll be asking to take about 10 minutes at the end of the second hour to discuss future business of this committee.
Second, we have two witnesses in each of the first and second hours. We've asked them to deliver opening statements of no more than five minutes. I will be enforcing that, if need be, because we are very tight for time.
Also, witnesses, if you are speaking in one official language, I would ask you to maintain that official language for your entire statement or if you're answering a question. If a question is posed to you en français and you wish to respond in French, do so for the entire answer. Switching back and forth between two languages causes some problems for us technically, so I would ask you to accommodate us and accommodate the interpreters. Last of all, just speak slowly and clearly so that our interpreters will be able to get the correct interpretation to all of our colleagues on this call.
We will be having a five-minute round, a four-minute round and a two-minute round to be able to facilitate the opening statements, and we will begin those now with Mr. McCauley for five minutes.