Evidence of meeting #84 for National Defence in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was families.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Cpl Glen Kirkland
My name is Glen Stuart Kirkland. My family has been in Canada since long before Canada became a country. Over 100 years ago my family stood up and fought in every major conflict and in countless battles for our country, Canada. My great great uncle Stuart Kirkland was a captain at Vimy Ridge fighting for Canada during the First World War. My grandfather, also Stuart Kirkland, was in the Essex Scottish Regiment out of Windsor, Ontario, and he fought for Canada in the Second World War. He fought through Holland, Belgium, Germany, and France. In France he was cited for bravery on the battlefield, receiving the citation from Field Marshal Montgomery, and then was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal from King George VI at Buckingham Palace. His grandfather represented Canada in the honour guard of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. My uncles represented Canada during the Korean War. My father represented Canada in the 3rd Battalion PPCLI as a UN peacekeeper and was eventually awarded the Attorney General's Award of Valour as a member of the Vancouver Police Department.
I enlisted and represented Canada in the 2nd Battalion PPCLI and was sent to Afghanistan. My tour was one of bloodshed and constant fighting. On the second-last day of my tour, my platoon was ambushed by an estimated 120 Taliban fighters. My vehicle was struck by a rocket. There were five of us in the LAV—five young, alive Canadian men. And then everything changed.
The rocket missed me by inches, exploding and killing three of us instantly. The two of us who remained were seriously injured. After the rocket struck, I was unconscious. When I awoke, I found myself pinned inside the wreckage and I was on fire. I had to pull myself out while on fire and through gunfire try to extract my dead and dying brothers in arms. Without trying to sound shocking, I had to wade through human soup while on fire to get everyone out.
As a result of the attack, I have lost 75% of my hearing. I will now wear hearing aids forever. I have lost some sight, and I still have metal chunks in me. I have scars from being on fire, and because of the attack I have suffered a brain injury. As a result, my brain has stopped telling my pancreas to produce insulin, and I have to inject myself six to ten times a day with insulin to stay alive.
I suffer from PTSD so badly that I haven't been able to visit my home in Vancouver for years. I can't handle the anxiety of being around crowds. Survivor guilt haunts me every day.
When I was in the hospital in Afghanistan, I spoke to my father on the phone. My dad said, “Don't worry, Canada will take care of you. You stepped up like we always have and you did your part, and Canada will do its part. It's only fair. Everything will work out.” My dad was wrong.
I am broken and can't be a productive, useful soldier. I wanted to be a cop someday, like my dad, but again, I'm too damaged and now I don't meet their standards.
The bottom line is that we all stood up and offered to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
I am not asking for a handout. We need compensation because our injuries have limited our opportunities in life. We've sustained these injuries because of our country's involvement.
When I was told I would need life-sustaining injections of a specific insulin or I would die, I expected to be treated like a human being. But unlike a human, I was given no compassion, and not even a ride to the hospital when my blood sugar was over 35—because it was Friday and the hospital was closing. I then drove myself to the hospital while slipping into a coma. The insult to injury occurred when the specialist the military sent me to see prescribed me an insulin, a drug that I would rely on to keep me alive, and I was denied because of the cost. Oh, that sucks.
This was a big eye opener. I cried—not like a person in pain, but as a person who was totally and utterly defeated. I hit a low point, or so I thought. This was overshadowed when I was told the needles were not allowed to be given out and I should look at various other avenues to find my needles.
This was not the first time I was denied a medical necessity. When I was told I had a massive hearing loss, I was prescribed hearing aids. These hearing aids have amplifiers in the back, and thus I need eyewear that wouldn't interfere. Instead of helping me acquire the proper eyewear, I was told that when I leave my house I would have to make a decision about whether I would need to see more or hear more that day.
I could go on and on about the shortcomings of the military.
I'm a proud person and was very proud to be part of the military. But hearing this, would you allow your child to serve knowing they wouldn't be looked after if they were hurt? I believe there's a question that should be answered here: Who would join up? Who would allow their son or daughter to join the Canadian military knowing that if they get injured, they will not get a disability pension?
As I said at the start, my family has represented Canada in the military for over 100 years. Our family contribution has now stopped with me. God willing, someday I will be a father, and my child will not be a part of an organization that will not take care of their own soldiers.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Thank you, Corporal. We appreciate your very moving testimony.
We'll go to our questions.
The first seven minutes go to Mr. Harris.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
Thank you, Corporal. I'm very moved by what you have told us. It's rather disappointing to hear many of the things you've said, given the other evidence we've heard from senior officials, talking about the programs they say are available.
I'm going to ask you a few specific questions. Are you still serving at this point?
NDP
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You said, first of all, that you're not eligible for a disability pension.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You say when you expressed concern about having eyewear that works with your hearing aids, you were told you have to choose between being able to see properly or hear properly on any given day. Who would have told you that?
Cpl Glen Kirkland
The base medical officer. He's probably been promoted since then. It was Major Pennock.
I have witnesses to that too, sir.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You also said that you were...it was suggested that you couldn't have access to needles, that you had to find other ways to get needles to provide yourself with insulin. What's the inference there?
Cpl Glen Kirkland
Well, I was not approved for the insulin that was prescribed to me by the specialist, because of the cost, and I was not approved at all for needles. It took weeks and weeks. I had to go to a welfare establishment. It was pretty demoralizing.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
So you're saying that you were prescribed that by a specialist. A specialist referred to you by the military?
NDP
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You were told it was too expensive and they wouldn't pay for it.
Cpl Glen Kirkland
Yes. I was offered a cheaper—to quote the military pharmacist—“President's Choice” style or brand of insulin.
NDP
Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL
You did say that you are using insulin now seven to ten times a day—