I call the meeting to order.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Before we get started and I do an introduction, I want to acknowledge the Honourable Irwin Cotler, the chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, a former member of this subcommittee, and a true hero of human rights in the Canadian Parliament.
Today's meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights is a special briefing on allegations of forced harvesting and trafficking of organs in China. This is not a new topic for this committee, as we have heard about it in previous Parliaments, but we look forward to an update here today.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses: the Honourable David Kilgour, former MP, minister of state, and colleague, and an occupant of this particular subcommittee chair in past Parliaments. David Matas, lawyer and human rights activist, will be joining him to testify here today.
Both witnesses have spent 10 years working on this subject, testifying before numerous legislative bodies and committees, including this subcommittee on several occasions. They have released multiple reports on organ harvesting, the most recent earlier this year.
I'd like to invite our witnesses to begin with their opening statements, and from there we can move on to questioning.
Thank you very much.