I call this meeting to order.
Welcome, everyone, to meeting number 12 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.
Pursuant to the orders of reference of Tuesday, March 24 and Saturday, April 11, the committee is meeting for the purpose of receiving evidence concerning matters relating to the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today's meeting is taking place entirely by video conference and the proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. As at the last meeting, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entire committee.
In order to facilitate our work here today and that of the interpreters and to ensure an orderly meeting, I will outline a few rules to follow.
Firstly, interpretation in this video conference will work very much as in a regular committee meeting. You have a choice at the bottom of your screen of either the floor, or English or French. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, you can either click on the microphone icon to activate your mike or you can hold down the space bar while you are speaking. When you release the bar, your mike will mute itself just like a walkie-talkie.
Also, as a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Should members need to request the floor outside their designated time for questions, they should activate their mike and state that they have a point of order.
If a member wishes to intervene in response to a point of order raised by another member, they should use the “raise hand” function. This will signal to the chair your interest in speaking. In order to do so, you should click on “participants” at the bottom of the screen. When the list pops up, you will see next to your name that you can click “raise hand”. Speak slowly and clearly, and when you're not speaking, please ensure that your mike is muted.
The use of headsets is strongly encouraged. If you have a microphone on your headset that hangs down, please make sure it is not rubbing on your shirt during your questioning time.
Should any technical challenges arise, such as with interpretation or if you are accidentally disconnected, please advise the chair or clerk immediately and the technical team will work to resolve it. Please note that we might need to suspend during these times to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.
Before we get started, could everyone click on the top right-hand corner of their screen if you're on a PC and ensure that it is on gallery view. With this view you should be able to see all of the participants in a grid view. It will ensure that all video participants can see one another.
During this meeting we will follow the same rules that usually apply to opening statements and the questioning of witnesses during our regular meetings. Each witness will have 10 minutes for an opening statement, followed by the usual rounds of questions from members. We have an agreement among all parties that we will do three rounds of questions.
We will start with Dr. Attaran, as an individual. He is a professor in the faculty of law at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Attaran, I note that you have sent in a brief. Unfortunately, we cannot distribute it until it is translated. The brief has gone to translation and will be distributed to the committee once that is done.
If you would like to make your presentation, you have 10 minutes, please.