Good afternoon. Bonjour, mes amis, bonjour. I am pleased to be here. The chairman cannot be. I will endeavour to do my best to move the meeting along.
This is the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, in case you thought you were in the wrong room. This is meeting number 44. Our order of the day, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), is a study of the greening of electricity consumption in Canada--the role and future potential of hydro-electricity.
I would like to welcome our witnesses on behalf of the committee. From the National Research Council of Canada, we have Mr. Sherif Barakat, vice-president of engineering, and Andrew Norgaard, director of public affairs. I also have Jane Dyment, officer of physical sciences. Is Ms. Dyment here?