Thank you.
In listening to the discussion, I understand that debt is one of the issues that causes suicide or can be a contributing factor. I see some people here from the veterans affairs committee. You had a Dr. Donald Passey, a psychiatrist, testify. He'd be the one who wrote a letter to the Somalia inquiry asking to testify, to inform the inquiry as well as members of the government and the Canadian Forces medical systems about the effects of mefloquine and his thoughts that it was affecting the Canadian Airborne Regiment members and their behaviour in Somalia up to and including the death of Shidane Arone. About a week later, the Somalia inquiry ended abruptly. An election was called. The Airborne Regiment was disbanded.
In any case, that's the background with Dr. Donald Passey, and he testified in committee that in addition to debt, the denial of claims has a huge impact and increases suicidal risk in veterans.
Earlier, Mr. Chairman, in answering my question about whether or not there would be anything preventing the clinicians from using the clinicians' reports to adjudicate a pension, the surgeon general said that clinicians do not attribute causal relationships to service. The military ombudsman also identified this, and he made a recommendation stating that he should be determining service attribution for medically releasing members. He recommended that the Canadian Armed Forces determine whether an illness or injury is caused or aggravated by that member's military service and that the Canadian Armed Forces determination be presumed by VAC to be sufficient evidence to support an application for benefits so that they don't have to go through everything in duplication and all the hardships that entails.
That being the case, on November 15 I tabled the motion that the Government of Canada immediately begin to take the measures necessary for the full implementation of all recommendations in the two reports of the National Defence and Canadian Forces Ombudsman that were tabled in 2016 and “that the Government implement all of [those] recommendations as the best way forward to support Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans, particularly those in transition” and that the office of the ombudsman provide a progress report to the committee on a monthly basis.
It would seem that everybody wants to do the right thing by our soldiers and veterans, so since we are on the topic, I would like to get the chair to call a vote to agree to that motion and push it forward so we can go forward. We learn in the news, sometimes on a weekly basis, of different suicides and suicide attempts. To stem these tragedies from happening, let's get on with this now so that the government can do its work and the surgeon general and his clinicians...and adjudications can be used to help them along their way in financial instances, so we'll resume debate of the motion.
