Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for this opportunity to speak this afternoon. As you've heard, I'm the president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. We're a little more than halfway through the mandate that takes us up to 2017. I'll speak a little bit more about that mandate in a moment.
I just want to reference that in my career as a registered nurse, I was also head of a very large hospital in Edmonton. We had members of the Canadian Forces come back to us, where they received the very best of care—the very best of physical care. At the time, I worried about the psychological part of it.
In addition to that, I was happy that a year later I was also a part of the opening of the OSI clinic in Edmonton. I won't regale you with the stories I've heard. I'm sure you have heard many such stories from people who have had to access OSI clinics across the country.
The commission last year released Canada's first-ever mental health strategy. Within the strategy we've identified many recommendations that look at improving the lives of people with mental illness in all spheres across the country. Certainly, we have a real interest in what happens to people with PTSD, and of course, their families.
The commission very much works in a collaborative fashion. We're happy to collaborate with CDRIN, which my colleague Mr. Upshall just referenced. We have a number of other components in the strategy. I would be happy to provide you with copies, should any of you wish.
We've also done a number of projects with the Canadian Forces. You've heard testimony from Lieutenant-Colonel Stéphane Grenier. We very much acknowledge the peer support work he has done, and the commission has certainly benefited from his expertise.
I mentioned the families. This is really critical, and it's something I want to make you aware of. The commission, within the next short while, a number of months, will be releasing national guidelines for family caregivers. This will hold recommendations on types of services and supports for people looking after people with mental illnesses. The principles within the document will certainly be helpful in matters of PTSD as well.
The other item we are working on with the Department of National Defence is our stigma program. I'm sure you've heard much about the impact that stigma and discrimination have on people with PTSD. Again, I read the testimony from Stéphane Grenier, and he acknowledged the difficulties he and his colleagues have had because of this serious issue.
The commission has decided to take a novel approach to stigma. We're evaluating programs to see what works. We're very happy to report that the road to mental readiness program is looked upon quite highly and is regarded quite well. The outcomes of that evaluation are also available.
I have some final comments in terms of health human resources. Mental health has been referred to as the orphan of the health care system, and this still very much holds firm today. There are a number of items within the strategy and elsewhere in the work of the commission that speak to ways of managing this and of helping out with it.
We've recently done a great deal of work on mental health in the workplace. Of course, the workplace is everywhere; it's not just an office building. In particular for the military, that definition expands considerably. And we are embarking on suicide prevention strategies.
With that, our recommendations are, really, to access the work that we have done as a catalyst throughout the country. We look forward to any report and recommendations that this committee will develop and would be very, very happy to provide any kind of support and assistance that we can with the development or dissemination of that important report with our knowledge exchange centre, and the results that will come out of it at the end.
I thank you most kindly.