I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 43 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. The webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, the committee will resume its study of the impact of COVID-19 on seniors.
I would like to welcome our witnesses to begin our discussion. Each will have five minutes of opening remarks, followed by questions.
We have with us today Mary Oko, the chair of the Family Council of Copernicus Lodge, and from the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse we have Kathy Majowski, board chair and registered nurse.
For the benefit of our witnesses, I'd like to make a couple of additional comments.
Interpretation is available in this video conference. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of either “floor”, “English” or “French”. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
You may notice that in each round of questions, when the MPs start to get close to the end of their turn, I'll hold up one finger to indicate one minute left. Don't panic. You'll have a chance to finish your thought. A minute is actually quite a long time.
With that, we're going to start with Ms. Oko for five minutes.
Welcome to the committee. You have the floor.