I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 42 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Pursuant to the order of reference of November 17, 2022, this committee is meeting to begin its study of the supplementary estimates (B) 2022-23 of the Department of Justice. Pursuant to the order of reference of November 23, 2022, we will proceed later today to the study of Bill C-291, an act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other acts (child sexual abuse material).
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of June 23, 2022. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.
I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and the members. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to active your mike. Please mute it when you're not speaking.
For interpretation for those on Zoom, you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of the floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.
I would remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.
For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best as we can, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.
For the first hour of this meeting, we will now proceed to supplementary estimates (B) 2022-23 for the following items. We have vote 1b under the Canadian Human Rights Commission, vote 1b under the Courts Administration Service, votes 1b and 5b under the Department of Justice, vote 1b under the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and vote 1b under the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada.
To present those items, we have with us the honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.
Welcome, Minister.
I would also like to welcome François Daigle, deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general of Canada; Michael Sousa, senior assistant deputy minister of the policy sector; and Bill Kroll, chief financial officer and assistant deputy minister of the management sector.
I will now give the floor to Minister Lametti to give his statement, and then we will go to a round of questions.