Committee members, I would ask you to take your seats, so we can resume with the second hour, which covers youth employment in Canada.
Joining us in the room we have three witnesses. Nobody is appearing virtually, so I would ask the witnesses to please familiarize themselves with the headset, the earpiece, and choose the official language in which you want to participate in this meeting. If there is an interruption in interpretation services with either members or witnesses, please raise your hand and get my attention. We will suspend to have that corrected.
For those attending in the room, please put your devices on silent mode. Please refrain from tapping the boom of the mic, because it will cause issues for our interpreters. I remind everyone to please direct your questions through the chair.
We have three witnesses. From the Forest Products Association of Canada, we have Derek Nighbor, president and chief executive officer. From the Students Commission of Canada, we have Sharif Mahdy, chief executive officer. From the YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth, we have two representatives, Rebekah Skeete, director, employment services, and Julie-Ann Vincent, chief operating officer—one of you will be providing the statement.
Each witness has five minutes or less for an opening statement.
We'll begin with Mr. Nighbor for five minutes, please.