National Defence committee  You're speaking of our operational trauma stress support clinics. We have an MOU with Veterans Affairs that it is there for Canadian Forces members, but we can take veterans into our—

National Defence committee  One of the results of the reports we've put together has led to a project within the Canadian Armed Forces called the journey. In the journey, we're trying to look at how we can address all of these items that we see as potential triggers. We do believe that if we can engage with the partners early on, we can help them to address the issues that are creating the stress in that relationship, help them to either stay together and work together or to find a way to separate in a way that is not so stressful and might otherwise cause one to undertake such a thing as committing suicide.

National Defence committee  The military family resource centres are independent entities, but they report to my commander, Lieutenant-General Whitecross, commander of military personnel command, and they report to a colleague of mine, Commodore Sean Cantelon. We get together on a weekly basis. We talk about what's going on in the centres and we are able to collaborate and work together.

National Defence committee  We have done some studies—not us in the medical side, but the chain of command—to look at the use of marijuana in the Canadian Armed Forces. It is being used as a recreational medication, but it's a small percentage of military members who are using marijuana recreationally. If you're asking me for my opinion with respect to it as a medication, at the present time I do not believe that there is enough clinical evidence to support us using marijuana to treat most of the types of illnesses that we are addressing in our military population.

National Defence committee  Once again, it's not a question for me. That's a question for the chief of the defence staff and the chain of command, because it really will be something that the chain of command is going to have to tackle. I think the use of any substance is something that you need to consider very carefully.

National Defence committee  Sure, go ahead.

National Defence committee  Most of that work is not the work that we do, but we do work with the military family resource centres to help them to understand the military member's life and what they might expect to be able to see. The other thing that we do is try to have patients allow us to engage with their family members in their care because we view that as important.

National Defence committee  What we've seen from our medical professional technical suicide reviews doesn't really reveal that it happens in any particular place in a career. We're seeing that it happens broadly across the career timelines.

National Defence committee  The issue of funerals, honours, and awards is not a situation that I deal with as the surgeon general. I know that they are looking at reviewing those who have passed on by suicide. What we face is a very difficult issue. Because of the multifactorial causation of suicide, it is not easy to say, when somebody takes their own life, just what it is that has actually contributed to that decision.

National Defence committee  Again, this is a question on a Veterans Affairs issue, so I am not in a position to comment on that. I am not involved in trying to create the policy.

National Defence committee  Again, my mandate is to provide health care for those who are ill and injured. We do provide health care for cadets who become ill or are injured while they are attending cadet camps. We also sustain that health care until the other programs are in place. This is an insurance program that is available to them to continue on with health care for their illness or injury.

National Defence committee  One of the important initiatives we launched a couple of years ago was the actual creation of the electronic mental health notes. Up until just two years ago, notes were not necessarily available in the electronic health record. Now we know that if somebody goes from one location to another or is deployed for some reason, the caregivers who are there are able to access what has gone on before with the care of that individual.

National Defence committee  When I last looked at the data for vacancies in positions, they're fairly evenly distributed across the country. Is there an issue in Quebec City sometimes, perhaps?

National Defence committee  Everybody who leaves the service now gets a copy of their medical record so that they have that available to carry with them to their next health care provider. We do work very closely with Veterans Affairs now, so if they're going to be a Veterans Affairs client, that information will have been transferred through to Veterans Affairs as well.

National Defence committee  Thank you for those questions. It is easier for me to answer them in English. My apologies.