Thank you again for that very important question.
We are working very closely with mental health associations across the country. In fact I was in Kingston yesterday to meet with many of the partners, including some at the university level, who are doing research into the area of post-traumatic stress. We are also doing a great deal of outreach to improve awareness of the programs that are available to deal specifically with the subject of operational stress.
In answer to your question, this $11.4 million, which was identified within our existing budget funding lines, will be dedicated specifically to hiring more mental health professionals—psychologists, psychiatrists, and counsellors—on the front line dealing specifically with the very serious mental illness that can result from operational service and particularly from the stress associated with combat. These are very real injuries. These injuries are just as debilitating as physical injuries.
I know you are familiar with this subject. I believe you also recently attended some of these efforts at CFB Petawawa to identify how we can improve direct front-line services.
This is about getting more people into the field. We committed in 2006 to doubling the number of mental health professionals within the employment of the Canadian Forces. We're at approximately 380 now. That's up from the 220 there were when we took office. We're committed to ensuring that we have those professionals available to our Canadian Forces members, regular and reserve, no matter where they are, so they can get the help they need.
As you would know, we've also taken steps internally with the “Be the Difference” campaign. General Natynczyk and our new Chief of the Defence Staff, Tom Lawson, are very much to be credited for improving the way in which we take away the stigma and talk more openly about mental health issues.
Soldiers—by nature, by training, by discipline—are sometimes reticent to come forward and ask for help. They are some of the toughest people we have in our country, but sometimes they do need that help, and that's what we're here to do by providing more counselling and more professional people to work with.