I now call this meeting to order.
I'd like to welcome everyone to meeting number 22 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. Pursuant to the orders of reference of April 11 and April 20, 2020, the committee is meeting for the purpose of receiving evidence concerning matters related to the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to facilitate the work of our interpreters and ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
First, 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 of floor, English or French. Please speak slowly and clearly and hold your microphone in front of your mouth.
If you will be speaking in both official languages, please ensure that the interpretation is listed as the language you will speak in before you start. For example, if you're going to speak in English, please switch to the English feed and then speak. This allows for better sound quality for interpretation.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. For witnesses, the questioner will basically identify who they would like to respond to the questions. When you're ready to speak, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. Should members need to request the floor outside of their designated time for questions, they should activate their mike and state that they have a point of order.
As a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Should any technical challenges arise, please advise the chair or the clerk immediately and the technical team will work to resolve them. It may be necessary to suspend the meeting in such cases in order to sort things out.
Before we get started, could everyone check on the upper right-hand corner of their screen if they're using a personal computer. In the top right-hand corner there's a choice between speaker view and gallery view. Gallery view will ensure that all video participants can see each other.
I'd now like to welcome our witnesses. Each witness will have 10 minutes for an opening statement, followed by the usual rounds of questions from members. First, as an individual, we have Dr. Amir Attaran, professor, faculty of law, University of Ottawa. As an individual, we have Dr. David Fisman, professor of epidemiology, University of Toronto; and as an individual, Dr. Richard Schabas, former chief medical officer of health for Ontario. From BlueDot we have Dr. Kamran Khan, chief executive officer and founder; and from Dynacare we have Vito Ciciretto, president and chief executive officer.
Welcome everyone. Thank you for joining us today.
We will begin with Dr. Attaran. Welcome back. You have 10 minutes. Please go ahead.