I call the meeting to order.
Pursuant to Standing Order 81(5), we are considering supplementary estimates (B) 2008-09, votes 1b, 5b, 15b, under Human Resources and Skills Development, referred to the committee on Thursday, January 29, 2009.
I want to welcome everyone here today. I also want to thank Mr. Lessard for taking care of the committee during the last half hour this morning.
Here we are again. I want to thank the minister for making herself available. I know that we were working hard last week to find a time that would work for everybody. We know how busy you are today, and we appreciate your taking the time to meet with the committee to go over estimates.
I'm not going to do much more talking other than to welcome the rest of the department here. Then we'll get right to the minister's opening statement of around 10 minutes. After that, we'll go to our seven-minute round, followed by five minutes.
We have you here for an hour, Ms. Finley, so I'll turn the floor over to you for your opening statement. Thanks for being here.