Veterans Affairs committee  We were kind of taken aside. When I arrived in Saudi Arabia we amalgamated with the British because I was in a little group and the Brits had already inoculated their people. From nurse to nurse we discussed the fact that these are ordered, and by the way, it's hush-hush, a secre

Veterans Affairs committee  Madam, if you went on a trip healthy and you came back sick wouldn't you want to know what happened and where it happened? Is it life threatening? Is it a bug that's going to leave in 10 days? It's human nature. When someone who is in the medical system gets ill, the first thing

Veterans Affairs committee  It's a life of existence. The joie de vivre is gone. It's trying to get through each day. I have multiple various chronic illnesses: chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity—very serious. I had back surgery when I was in the military in 1994, and it went wrong

Veterans Affairs committee  —or go over bridges. I have these weird phobias I never had before. It's brain damage from the exposures.

Veterans Affairs committee  Well, I think it's like anything. If you don't deal with it, it doesn't exist.

Veterans Affairs committee  To me there should not be a cost associated to any care for veterans regardless of what it is.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think it's all of the above, but the fact that the headquarters of Veterans Affairs is in Charlottetown is far from being helpful. It should be here in Ottawa.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's an illness on its own.

Veterans Affairs committee  I wish I knew the answer, sir.

Veterans Affairs committee  Canada doesn't do any statistics or research, so we don't really have any data. It's word of mouth, but back in the early 2000s, I knew of close to 400.

Veterans Affairs committee  The immediate thing that needs to be done is to establish an independent, active, medical scientific advisory board. We're dealing with difficult to understand serious chronic illnesses. We need specialists like in the United States and Britain. That's the first thing I would do.

Veterans Affairs committee  We should absolutely have veterans be part of this active medical scientific advisory board. Honestly, and this has been asked not just by me but by Sean Bruyea and all kinds of veterans and advocates through SNAG, the special needs advisory group, and through the Office of the V

Veterans Affairs committee  I will share it if I can track it down. I've had a lot of computer problems, but if I can, I will be glad to share it.

Veterans Affairs committee  What would it look like? First of all, it would look like a blank card, carte blanche. I don't believe we should have to prove anything. At the end of the day, we were selected to go. We left healthy; we came back sick. It's not up to me to pay thousands of dollars to get teste

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, with veterans, just like in the United States, something like the research advisory committee on Gulf War illnesses, where it's based on science, research, and facts, by scientists, not Veterans Affairs Canada.