I call this meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 107 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, February 1, 2024, the committee is meeting to start it study on the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s involvement in the Lake Erie connector project.
Today’s meeting is taking place in hybrid format, pursuant to the House of Commons Standing Orders. Members may participate in person in the room or remotely by using the Zoom application.
Although this room is equipped with a sophisticated audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to our interpreters and cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too closely to a microphone. We therefore ask all participants to exercise a high degree of caution when handling the earpieces, especially when your microphone or your neighbour's microphone is turned on. In order to prevent incidents and safeguard the hearing health of our interpreters, I invite all participants to ensure that they speak into the microphone into which their headset is plugged and to avoid manipulating the earbuds by placing them on the table away from the microphone when they are not in use.
Colleagues, I welcome our witnesses for today. Appearing before us by video conference is Mr. Mark Winfield, professor, faculty of environment and urban change, York University. Welcome to you, sir. From the Canada Infrastructure Bank, we have Ehren Cory, chief executive officer; Sashen Guneratna, managing director, investments; and Frédéric Duguay, general counsel and corporate secretary.
We begin with our opening remarks, and for that I will turn the floor over to you, Mr. Winfield. You have five minutes, sir.