Good morning, and welcome. This is meeting number two of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, on Monday, June 21, 2011.
In our first hour this morning we will study the Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioner selection criteria. Appearing as witnesses we have, from the Department of Public Safety, Graham Flack, associate deputy minister, and from the Privy Council, Patricia Hassard, deputy secretary to the cabinet, senior personnel and public service renewal.
Welcome.
As the chair, and on behalf of our committee, I thank all the witnesses for coming to committee on such short notice. We appreciate your response and your presence here today.
I understand that there will be an opening statement. We would welcome that now. Then we will proceed into our first round of questions.
Madam Hassard, if you would like to, please begin.
We've just now heard a cellphone going off. I would ask everyone to shut down their phones or put them on vibrate. We're able to conduct a meeting much better if these are not going off every minute.