Thank you.
I have a tremendous sense of unease. In fact I'm somewhat disturbed that we have over a quarter of our soldiers returning from the mission in Kandahar, and they're identified as having mental health issues. We have no idea how many of those soldiers are receiving the type of care they require. These people could be in very dark places. We also know that a significant number of them have been flagged for substance abuse or potential substance abuse with addictive substances. Suicide was mentioned, and we know that they have access to weaponry.
What's most disturbing about this isn't just not having the figures, but that the armed forces have known, since 2002, the last time they checked on this.... Six years have passed, and for the last six years they've known that 75% did not feel that they were getting the type of mental health care they required.
The initial answer was, well, we'll get those numbers in two years. It's taken this committee to request to get at some of those numbers, and the numbers could have been accessible. The armed forces, if they truly were concerned about this issue, would have had those numbers.
I have a question to the brigadier-general. Back in October, when this report came out, Mr. Day was quite concerned, and rightfully so. He said that by 2009, meaning by the end of 2008, $100 million would be poured--he said this in October, in the same timeframe that the mini-budget was being presented--into issues of mental health, and 200 mental health care professionals would be hired by the end of this year.
How many millions have poured into your department, Brigadier General, since that statement three months ago? And how many of those 200 have been hired or are in process--the actual numbers?