Ladies and gentlemen, we will call the 54th meeting of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology to order.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are continuing our study, our second meeting, on Canada's access to medicines regime.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have scheduled three hours of witnesses here for us today. Unfortunately there are votes at 5:45, so we will have to leave shortly after 5:30. I understand Mr. Lewis has graciously agreed to somewhat shorten his presentation so we could add more time for the non-governmental organizations, of which we have six today.
So the first hour was scheduled for Mr. Lewis.
Mr. Lewis, I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us from Toronto today by videoconference. We have you scheduled for an hour. Of course, you're well-known to all of us as the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, as are your experiences there.
I think what we'll do is go right to your presentation. I understand you have about a five-minute opening presentation. and then we'll go to questions from members. If we can keep it to 45 minutes, then we will allow more time for witnesses, for the NGOs, to present.
Mr. Lewis, you can begin at any time. Thank you very much for being with us today.