Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
On behalf of the Canadian Red Cross Society, I would like to thank you for allowing us to appear before the committee today.
First, let me tell you briefly about the Canadian Red Cross Society mandate before I give the floor to our General Counsel, Mr. Alan Reid, who will provide you with our comments on Bill C-4.
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the situation of the most vulnerable in Canada and throughout the world. This would be impossible without the dedicated support of its more than 30,000 volunteers and members, as well as its 3,500 employees.
The society has a unique mandate: to support public authorities at all levels in Canada. The Canadian Red Cross Society plays a pivotal role in providing a link between governments, civil society and the communities we serve.
The Canadian Red Cross Society is a member of the largest humanitarian network in the world, made up of over 100 million volunteers and members throughout the world. It is a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. This includes the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the 186 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies around the world.
We are here today on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross Society to pledge our overall support of Bill C-4.
I will now let Mr. Reid present our comments and recommendations in more detail.
Mr. Reid.