Evidence of meeting #22 for National Defence in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was afghanistan.
A recording is available from Parliament.
November 8th, 2006 / 5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
A mental status...an actual screening for post-traumatic stress.
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
My superficial answer would be yes, absolutely. Certainly each individual is screened.
You can discuss the degree of rigour in that screening process with the Canadian Forces Surgeon General.
We go through quite a process to make sure they are healthy, mentally and otherwise, before deployment and on their way back. We also have a decompression process—third-location decompression, which you may have heard about—that has proven very effective and is very much appreciated by the soldiers. This was the initial feedback for the first wave who came back from this.
The decompression is not exclusively about blowing off steam, although I suppose that's a part of it. It's about connecting with health care professionals and others to help them prepare for and adjust to the world back in Canada.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
I don't know what the process is, but can you, or can the clerk, let the surgeon general know that I would like to see the screening process for testing for post-traumatic disorder on re-entry, meaning not just a tick-off sheet as to whether you feel fine or not?
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
Certainly. You can have that explained to you also in Edmonton.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
That's where they told me it wasn't happening when I was on the base in Edmonton.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
Very good. That ends the first round. The order for the final round is the official opposition, the government, the Bloc, the government, the official opposition, the government, the official opposition, and then the New Democratic Party.
So, Liberal Party, it's your kick at the cat here.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON
We had asked whether the committee was willing for the New Democratic Party to move up. I'm giving up my slot for her now.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
The order of asking questions was set up when we had our organization meeting, and a lot of time and effort went into making it fair. Are you asking for unanimous consent?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
Does the member have unanimous consent to give up this slot to the New Democratic Party?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rick Casson
We heard no.
Okay. Who wants to go for the Liberal Party. Is there anyone?
Mr. McTeague, five minutes.
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
Thank you.
General, I want to go back to the issue of Landstuhl, Germany, and the answer you gave is an interesting one as far as wounded soldiers are concerned. I must say I've heard that from many others, and I respect the fact that you don't ultimately make the decision here.
It seems to me that since soldiers who are in theatre are not really paid until the end of the first month, some who have been injured in that first month may very well be looking at the possibility of having very little in the way of any support and anticipation of money. Has there been any discussion that you can reveal to us as to what form compensation might take? Are you at liberty to say that or comment on it?
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
All I can say on that issue, again, is that the minister and the CDS are both absolutely committed to making sure that soldiers are not disadvantaged by virtue of having been wounded in action in a theatre of operation. They're committed to that, and I'm sure the CDS has provided direction to the chief of military personnel and others to find a way to make sure that our soldiers are properly compensated.
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
On a bit of a personal bias, I have a cousin whose son was badly injured a few weeks ago in Panjwai province, and one of the experiences has been the excellent treatment he received. I did comment to both the CDS and the minister on the good treatment he's received. But it seemed to me, having had another friend who was also hurt...when they're in the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, they're basically looking at four blank walls. They're of course given attention that is extremely good--it's an American facility--but then a blanket is put on them that says “U.S. Army”, or it might say something with an American perception or American resources.
Is there any way--and I'm not referring to what you said to John Cannis--we can provide a little more support for our soldiers when they're in hospital in Landstuhl, Germany? I don't just mean the resources to make them better, but the resources that give them the feeling that actually the Canadian government is there, and is there with a very tangible presence.
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
I've been to Landstuhl and I've spoken to wounded soldiers in Landstuhl and I've spoken to parents of wounded soldiers while they were there in Landstuhl experiencing seeing their son in a shocking state to them. It's traumatic for the parents. I will tell you the parents and the wounded universally are positive about the support they are receiving, not just from Landstuhl but from the Canadian Forces and from the Government of Canada effectively. They are very positive.
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
General, yes, that may be the case for what they're receiving in terms of treatment, but I've also heard--
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
That's not just treatment.
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
I've heard the contrary as well, that more can be done to show a Canadian presence--books that might be from Canada, video games, a blanket that says Canada on it.
I don't want to belabour the point, but I think it's extremely essential for us, if we're going to have a number of troops going through there who are wounded, unfortunately, that there is a greater Canadian presence. I really do want to emphasize that, because I know of at least three occasions in Toronto where we're now raising funds to do just that.
I've had to personally go to some people I know and ask them for a couple of thousand bucks to give to a particular person over there, so that we have more of a Canadian presence there, as opposed to an American presence, inside the four walls of those hospitals.
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
By “Canadian presence”, do you mean Canadian flags and physical, visible demonstrations?
Liberal
Dan McTeague Liberal Pickering—Scarborough East, ON
If you're going to be there for a week or two, it would be nice to show Tim Hortons or something along that line. But I am more serious than that.
I just want to get one point on this. I will move on to that. I don't know how much time I have left.
It seems to me that perhaps you could enlighten the committee on the bigger question, and I had this discussion with some of my colleagues before. If we are about to suggest the purchase of new second-generation Leopard tanks and Germany is sitting on several thousand of them, why can't we, as part of our relationship in the alliance, borrow those? Why do we have to spend tens of millions of dollars committing to where we are in one of the most difficult parts of the country?
Caveats expressed by certain European nations aside, it seems to me we're going well beyond what we need to do. Why don't we just ask the Germans to lend us a few of their tanks, rather than having to spend millions of dollars bringing the first-generation tanks, which are 25 years old, over to Afghanistan? As my colleague pointed out, this is a NATO effort. We do share, and we are sharing in that burden. If we are not going to share in the burden of committing our troops to the front lines, at least we should be sharing resources.
Commander , Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, Department of National Defence
We are doing that. We do that every day.
I won't get into all the details, but we have loaned equipment to other nations in Afghanistan. We supported at least one other nation with airlift in a very substantial way. We received support from other nations with respect to different kinds of airlift. We have received support from other nations.
In equipment areas, we have borrowed and we will borrow again; we are undertaking arrangements to borrow equipment from other nations where it is required. It is a coalition; it is cooperative. We are working with each other.
It's a good idea and it's something we are doing.
Conservative
Conservative
Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It has been suggested that with the change in the leadership with the Dutch general, there might somehow be some change in the tactics or focus of the mission. Do you see any change as a result of that change in leadership?
