Yes.
Without further ado, let me welcome our witnesses.
From Amazon Web Services Inc., we have Nicole Foster, director, global artificial intelligence and Canada public policy; and Nick Markou, head of professional services, Canada public sector.
Welcome, and thank you for agreeing to appear today.
From BDO Canada, we have Mike Abbott, managing partner, markets and industry.
Thank you for being here.
From Microsoft Canada Inc., we have John Weigelt, chief technology officer. Thank you for being here.
I'll flag this up front: You might have experience appearing before a parliamentary committee; if you do, that's great, but if not, that's no problem.
Members will have time to ask each of you questions. In the course of those questions, they might ask for additional information. Committees do have broad powers to summon information. We don't usually go from zero to 60 that quickly. We hope witnesses will agree to provide information. Obviously, if information is sensitive or commercially confidential, we do understand that and we will work with you.
As questions come up, if you feel you're able to assist us, just acknowledge that. If there is some give-and-take, we can look at that down the road. We generally hope witnesses will get back to us within two or three weeks, at which point the analyst will reach out. We'll also keep track of what might be asked of you, so you don't need to scribble it down here. The blues will be made available for the record here.
It's meant to be helpful to the committee, so don't be caught off guard by it. As a first step, you're not expected to reveal all. Having said that, we do hope that witnesses will lean towards accountability and transparency as much as possible.
As you can see, this committee, and indeed all of Parliament, is seized by this study on ArriveCAN. It originated from a motion passed in Parliament.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I do want to be sure that everyone is treated fairly.
I understand there are opening statements of up to five minutes.
Let's begin with Amazon.