I know, sir, that the number of uniformed specialists has been one issue. We've been trying to get that number increased, because we realize that we don't have enough specialists to meet the mission. I know that CMP as well as our Surgeon General are engaged in trying to get that to happen. Obviously you can deploy uniformed health care givers, whereas you can't deploy non-uniformed folks.
As well, unfortunately the public service wages can't compete with the civilian public sector. I think that's an issue that hopefully is being engaged as well. We rely on our third-party contractor, Calian, to try to entice these folks, but if you look at downtown Toronto, they're short of psychiatrists as well.
So it's hard to develop this capability. It's tough. It's just tough. But I would say that we are getting a whole lot better. Certainly our screening I think has improved. The enhanced post-deployment process is much better.
I would say that Dr. Mark Zamorski, in the directorate of medical policy, is somebody who you should talk to. He is ramrodding the post-deployment process, and he has done a lot of research and a lot of work with the U.S. DOD in that respect.
Certainly our PHA going to two years and having more mental health questions are the things that have come around since 2002. In 2002 we did our first Statistics Canada-Canadian Forces study on the prevalence of mental health within the CF. That gave us a lot of good information that we've moved forward with.
Our Canadian Forces health lifestyle information survey, CFHLIS, is now moving up from every four years to every two years. The Chief of Military Personnel has okayed that significant expenditure of funds. These survey answers give us a baseline idea of the prevalence of mental health illness for the CF population.
So we have learned, I think. We probably have a ways to go. We'll always be chasing our tail, probably, but I think we've come a long way.