Thank you very much.
The committee is meeting today as part of its study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the government's ability to deliver information in both official languages.
The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. So you are aware, the webcast will always show the person rather than the entirety of the committee. To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
For those participating virtually, members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either Floor, English or French. Before speaking, click on the microphone icon to activate your own mic. When you are done speaking, please put your mic on “mute” to minimize any interference.
A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Should members need to request the floor outside of their designated time for questions, they should activate their mic and state that they have a point of order. If a member wishes to intervene on a point of order that has been raised by another member, they should use the “raised hand” function. This will signal to the chair your interest to speak and create a speaker’s list.
In order to do so, you should click on “Participants” at the bottom of the screen. When the list pops up, you will see next to your name that you can click “raise hand”.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mic should be on mute. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, the use of headsets with a boom microphone is mandatory for everyone participating remotely.
Should any technical challenges arise, please advise the chair. Please note that we may need to suspend for a few minutes as we need to ensure all members are able to participate fully.
With regard to a speaking list, the committee clerk and I will do the best we can maintain consolidated order of speaking for all members, whether they are participating virtually or in person.
I would now like to welcome our witnesses.
Joining us today are Mrs. Linda Cardinal, Emeritus Professor, University of Ottawa, Ms. Stéphanie Chouinard, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada and Department of Political Studies, Queen's University, Mr. François Larocque, Professor, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa, and Mr. Martin Normand, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Ottawa.
Your opening statements should not exceed seven and a half minutes.
I would also like to point out to the participants that I use a yellow card to indicate when you have approximately one minute left to speak. However, I also have a red card which, as in soccer, means your time has expired.
I would like to begin by giving the floor to Ms. Chouinard for her opening statement.
Ms. Chouinard, you have the floor.