This meeting is called to order.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome to Meeting No. 27 of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology.
We are very pleased to welcome our witnesses, who are participating in person or virtually.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Friday, April 8, 2022, the committee is meeting today to study small and medium-sized enterprises and, more broadly, competitiveness.
Today's meeting is taking place in hybrid format, pursuant to the House Order of Thursday, November 25, 2021. Members and witnesses may participate in person or using Zoom.
Those attending in person are familiar with the health rules in effect and must conduct themselves accordingly.
I am pleased to introduce the witnesses who are gracing us with their presence this Friday afternoon.
We have Ms. Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Professor, School of Business Administration, Université TELUQ, appearing as an individual. We have Mr. Ralph Suppa, President and General Manager of the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating, and Ms. Tania Johnston, of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada.
Welcome, Ms. Johnston.
We also have Ms. Sara Anghel, President of the National Marine Manufacturers Association of Canada, Ms. Leslie Ewing, Executive Director of Plant-Based Foods of Canada, and Mr. Patrick Perreault, Chief Executive Officer of Table Métal Abitibi-Ouest.
If memory serves me, Mr. Perreault, we had a few technical issues the last time you were here, but we are very pleased to see you again.
Finally, we have Mr. Martin Caron, General President, and Mr. David Tougas, Coordinator, Business Economics, both from the Union des producteurs agricoles.
I wish to thank all the witnesses for taking part in this exercise and shedding light on the subject of study of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology.
Before we begin, I wish to inform members and witnesses that we have to finish the last round of questions about 10 minutes before the end of the meeting so that we can debate Ms. Gray's motion. Her motion is related to our study.
Without further delay, Ms. Tremblay has the floor for five minutes.