I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number seven of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. The committee is meeting today from 4:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. to begin a study on the Nuctech security equipment contract.
Officials from Public Services and Procurement Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the Communications Security Establishment and the Canada Border Services Agency are here to discuss this subject.
Pursuant to the motion adopted by the House on Wednesday, September 23, 2020, 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 to follow.
Interpretation in this video conference will work very much like in a regular committee meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, to use floor, English or French. Should you be speaking in French, I would ask you to make certain that your language is in French for the interpreters, and likewise in English.
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 their microphone is unmuted and say “point of order” to get the chairman's attention.
In order to ensure social distancing in the committee room, if you need to speak privately with the clerk or an analyst during the meeting, please email them through the committee email address.
I will now invite representatives of PSPC to make their opening statements.