Welcome to meeting number six of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
The committee is meeting today from 6:34 to 8:34 to hear from the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and the officials, on the main estimates for 2020-21.
The committee will meet next Wednesday, on November 18, from 3:30 to 5:30 and will hear witnesses as part of its study on the Nuctech security equipment contract. Officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada, Global Affairs Canada and the Communications Security Establishment will appear on that day.
Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on Wednesday, September 23, the committee may continue to sit in a hybrid format. This means that members can participate either in person in the committee room or by video conference, via Zoom.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules as follows.
Interpretation in this video conference will work very much like in a regular committee meeting. You have a choice at the bottom of your screen to select the floor, English or French. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, you can click on the 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 that their microphone is unmuted and say “point of order” to get the Chair's attention.
In order to ensure social distancing in the committee room, if you need to speak privately to the clerk or analysts during this meeting, please email them through the committee email address.
You should all have received the speaking notes that were distributed 20 minutes ago, including the speaking notes from the minister.
I will now invite the Minister of Public Services and Procurement to make her opening statement.
Minister, go ahead.