Veterans Affairs committee  They tell you to fill your load station--“load station” being an old army term--to which you might say you're “on the gun”.

Veterans Affairs committee  No, ma'am, it doesn't work that way. I would say probably 60% of the soldiers who come home have no visible effects of PTSD. Of the 40% who are left, I would say probably 20% show visible signs, and after a couple of years the other 20% will kick in. It took me roughly 10 to 15 years before I started seeing things from a different perspective, and then I thought I was the one at fault.

Veterans Affairs committee  What I'm trying to explain, ma'am, is that when the soldiers come back, the medical staff have to be trained to recognize the visual effects of PTSD. You get a man who's loud and boisterous and all of a sudden he's quiet and withdrawn, that man is suffering from something. Or it could be just the opposite; it could be a man who's withdrawn and quiet who all of a sudden becomes outlandish, does stupid things for attention, gets adrenalin rushes, that shows that he's craving for something, that he's missing something in his life.

Veterans Affairs committee  Ma'am, I was suffering from these things well before I was out. Back in 1985 I knew there was something wrong with me. I knew I needed help. When I went looking for help, it was denied. It was refused. They told me to go to sleep, take some sleeping pills, get back to work the next morning.

Veterans Affairs committee  I was up here in March. I recognize some faces and see some new faces. As I think I stated in March, you're going to hear it in a soldier's language. I don't beat around the bush. I shoot from the gut. I have nothing to prove to anybody. Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at an individual who has suffered with the dreaded affliction known as PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans Affairs committee  For the younger--

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. Why not? You get a young man who's 40 years old who is completely disabled--

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, 22 years old. He can't work. He cannot contribute to the Canada Pension Plan. Why not?

Veterans Affairs committee  I think the OSI clinics should be put in place around every major base in Canada--not on the base per se, but off the base, because a lot of these gentlemen, and the women also, cannot open up on a base level if they're still serving. Even members that are out have a very hard time going back into a military institution, going through a gate into a base area.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. And we need more psychologists who are trained with PTSD.

Veterans Affairs committee  Psychiatrists, psychologists--they're not out there. I think Mr. Sweet mentioned something about a list for how we find our doctors. I asked that question thirty years ago. I asked if there was a list of doctors where I could go to say that this man needs help for this condition.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you again, sir. It was an honour.

Veterans Affairs committee  Correct me if I'm wrong, but do they not go on a waiting list, like Pat? Then as one comes closer to his home, they will move him to that position?

Veterans Affairs committee  We've used some pretty powerful people, not to put pressure on them but to try to enlighten them about the conditions, and he was still denied.

Veterans Affairs committee  Do you want the truth or do you want a lie?