Thanks, Mr. Chair.
If I have time left, I'll share it with the parliamentary secretary.
This is a very interesting conversation. I'm retired from the RCMP and have seen my share of crap over the years. We all deal with it differently.
But I was very intrigued, Mr. Savoia, with what you said. I've gone through a couple of critical incidents—stress times in my life—with regard to a team coming in. The jury's out on those. It may have worked for a couple of the people who were in them. I don't know if it worked for me or not. But c'est la vie.
I do agree with you, and you mentioned it quite clearly with regard to the incident that bothered you but didn't bother your partner. Why not? I don't know.
I counted them up once, and I think I've gone to about 112 fatals, sudden deaths, in my 20 years. Why not me? I don't know. Am I one of the lucky ones? I have no clue.
But I do know there are far-reaching other problems that come with that. One of those for me, as well as for a lot of my colleagues—and I can't speak for everyone—is that we end up imbibing a little more than we should, shall we say; and it becomes a bit of a habit. For me, I ended up going to treatment for it, and fortunately I'm here today. Again, I'm one of the lucky ones.
But this is where I'd like to hear from Mr. Marks and Mr. Savoia. When it comes to those who serve, whether it's firemen, policemen, or the military—and I heard you say it earlier, and we'll agree to disagree a little bit on this—I truly believe that where we missed the mark is in dealing peer to peer; because, as you said earlier, there's this John Wayne attitude. We're afraid to come forward, because we're afraid of what the public will think of us. But that's not necessarily the case when it's peer to peer, as long as it's kept that way.
So, I'd like both of you to talk a little bit with regard to how we can move forward as a nation dealing with peer to peer consultation—if you want to call it that—or talking this thing out. That's been the best for me during my career, to talk to someone who could relate to what I had gone through; because talking to someone who can't relate to me is like talking to that wall.
Go ahead, please.