Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the 37th meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages. This morning, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are studying the impacts of the delays in providing funding to recipient organizations from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
It is our pleasure to have the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages as well as representatives of the department.
In the first hour, the minister will appear, and he is accompanied by Ms. LaRocque, Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Thomas Scrimger, Assistant Deputy Minister. We also welcome Mr. Lussier, who is a committee regular.
At the end of the first hour, we'll suspend for a few minutes for the time it takes to change witnesses.
Without further ado, I invite you, minister, to make your address. I take the opportunity to welcome you to the Standing Committee on Official Languages.