I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 31 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
The committee is meeting today at 4:42 p.m. Ottawa time to hear from the President of the Treasury Board and officials on the main estimates and departmental plans for 2021-22.
I'd like to take this opportunity to remind all participants in this meeting that taking screenshots or photos of your screen is not permitted.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
Interpretation in this video conference will work very much as it does in a regular committee meeting. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of choosing “floor”, “English” or “French”.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, you may click on your microphone icon to activate your mike. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
To raise a point of order during the meeting, committee members should ensure their microphone is unmuted and say “point of order” to get the chair's attention.
The clerk and the analysts are participating in the meeting virtually today. If you need to speak with them during the meeting, please email them through the committee email address. The clerk may also be reached by using his cellphone number.
For those people who are participating in the committee room, please note that masks are required unless you are seated and when physical distancing is not possible.
With that said, I will now invite the President of the Treasury Board to make his opening statement.
Mr. Duclos, please go ahead.