Thanks so much, Mr. Chair.
Hello to my colleagues.
Thanks to the witnesses for coming in today. It's a very interesting discussion.
Most of my questions will be directed to ISED. First, I'd like to thank our officials from Innovation, Science and Economic Development for joining us to answer our questions on the record. We know this is an extremely busy time for your department, so we appreciate your time.
I was glad to hear our Prime Minister announce that 30,000 ventilators will be produced right here in Canada for use in our local hospitals, and that Art McDonald, a Cape Bretoner, will be leading the team of scientists working on this.
Can you tell us a bit more about the design that will be used? For example, I know that the U.K. recently cancelled its order for about 1,000 simple ventilators saying that those didn't meet the needs or it needs more complex ventilators. Will we be looking at a more complex design? Are simple ventilators useful to treat COVID-19?