I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number five of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.
This committee is meeting today to discuss supplementary estimates (B) for 2020-21.
I want to thank the witnesses for appearing today.
We have the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health. From the Department of Health, we have Mr. Stephen Lucas, deputy minister; and Les Linklater, federal lead for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and data management strategies. From the Public Health Agency of Canada, we have Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer; and Iain Stewart, president. From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we have Dr. Siddika Mithani, president. From the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, we have Dr. Michael Strong, president.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. I would like to start the meeting by providing you with some information following the motion that was adopted in the House on Wednesday, September 23.
As the committee is now sitting in a hybrid format, it means that members can participate either in person or by video conference. All members, regardless of their method of participation, will be counted for the purpose of quorum. The committee's power to sit is, however, limited by the priority use of House resources, which is determined by the whips. All questions must be decided by a recorded vote, unless the committee disposes of them with unanimous consent or on division. Finally, the committee may deliberate in camera, provided that it takes into account the potential risks to confidentiality inherent to such deliberations with remote participants.
The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. So you are aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. I should note that if you are not using the latest version of the Zoom application, you need to switch to the particular language of interpretation that you're going to speak.
Before speaking, click on the microphone icon to activate your own mike. When you are done speaking, please put your mike on mute to minimize any interference.
As a reminder, all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. 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. If a member wishes to intervene on a point of order that has been raised by another member, they should use the “raise hand” function. This will signal to the chair your interest to speak and create a speakers list. 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.”
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly—and my apologies to the translators. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the use of headsets with a boom microphone is mandatory for everyone participating remotely. Should any technical challenges arise, please advise the chair. Please note that we may need to suspend for a few minutes, as we need to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.
I'm not going to go through the “participating in person” part. I don't think we have any today.
That being said, I would like to invite the minister to make a 10-minute statement.
