Veterans Affairs committee  The most important thing I've seen over my 40 years is that men and women in the higher-up positions need to come together and force the dissemination of that information down to the junior ranks. They have to lead by example, not lead by, “Oh, I'll speak out of one side of my mouth.”

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely. In every clinic, every deployed operation, you will find a rape kit. It's standard issue. The medics are trained in Borden. If a woman says to me, “I've been raped,” the first thing I do is get the nurse in charge and call the MPs, because there is a process that has to be followed.

Veterans Affairs committee  Today it is, but it wasn't back when I first joined. There have been important changes in the Canadian Forces health system.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was stressful. There's no doubt. You're not ready for civvy street after 40 years in the military.

Veterans Affairs committee  There have been changes. There have been improvements, but when I look back over the years at how long it took to get those changes, now that we have those changes, are they still looking at how they can improve those changes or are they just going, “Yes, we did it. That's it. It's over with.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes.

Veterans Affairs committee  I was posted to what was then the JPSU, I think, in 2015, and I didn't release until 2019. In that time period, they offered me retraining—“re-coursing”—and they would offer me, “What do you expect to do in two years or three years or however...?” As it turned out, I ended up having metastatic breast cancer, and that put everything on hold.

Veterans Affairs committee  When I first joined, we made less than 50% of what our male counterparts made. When I first joined the reserves, I made $19 a day. When I retired, that was totally different. Things have changed. Some things have improved. There are two things. One is the level of education that is required to be in my job as a medical technician and air evac.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, of course, the financial benefits go along with that. You progress in rank and you progress in pay. You progress in specialization, and it's called “spec pay”: You get more more pay. There are more opportunities open for women. I believe that now they are across the board. Women can serve on ships.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not exactly sure what question it was. I know there was a question about kit and the fitting of kit. From 1978 to 2004, there simply wasn't kit for women, period—end of story. You either made do or you took the high road. There was no accommodation whatsoever for women—for the way we thought, acted and led.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you. The million-dollar question is how you stop this trauma from occurring. I think it's education on both sides, but it's awfully hard to pin down a single problem. It seems to be that when deployed, there's almost a sense that the male [Technical difficulty—Editor] get a lot freer.

Veterans Affairs committee  Sure. I'm hoping that this is going to work. I will say my Internet connection is [Technical difficulty—Editor] Can you hear me okay now?

Veterans Affairs committee  That's fine. There are many sides to this. It's unfortunate that we have such a limited amount of time, because I could speak forever.

Veterans Affairs committee  I agree with the previous women who spoke. I find that there is a difference. I was raped in Canada while I was in the reserves, but went on to join the regular force and was deployed overseas. On one tour, I was fine. I felt very much protected by the soldiers—men—around me. On other tours, I had to be very leery.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you very much for inviting me to partake in this committee. The big question is, why are we here? Fifty years ago I marched on Parliament Hill for women's rights. I then joined the Canadian Armed Forces, believing, foolishly, that the government was actually going to do what it said.