I now call this meeting to order. Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to meeting number six of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of September 23, 2020. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Be aware that the website will show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I'd like to outline a few rules, as usual. Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting, and you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of “Floor”, “English” or “French”.
For members participating in person, please proceed as you usually would when the full committee is meeting in person in the committee room, keeping in mind the directives from the Board of Internal Economy regarding masking and health protocols.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on video conference, please click on your microphone to unmute yourself. For those in the room, the microphone will be controlled as usual by the proceedings and verification officer. This is a reminder that all comments must be addressed through the chair. When you're not speaking, please mute your microphone.
With regard to the speaking list, the clerk and I will be doing our best to maintain the speaking order.
Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), the committee is meeting today to continue its study on the main estimates 2020-21.
As is my normal practice, I will hold up a yellow card when you have 30 seconds left in your intervention and a red card when your time is up. Please respect the time limits, as we want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to have their turn.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses for the first panel. We have the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages. I will introduce our other guests at the end of this first panel and the beginning of the next so that we do not delay any further.
With that, I will turn the floor over to Minister Bains. You have the floor for five minutes.