Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and merci, madame.
A few years ago, Mr. St. Denis and I had an opportunity to go to Bosnia. We met one of the interpreters for the Canadian Forces, and she was a very attractive 24-year-old woman. I could just imagine what went through her mind when she was 14 and a nurse's assistant, and what she went through. I asked her how it was back then. She said, it's not something we talk about; it's something we have to live with. There was no help for her or the thousands of young people in Bosnia. They didn't have psychologists or anyone to help them. I can just imagine what our troops experienced back then and the concerns they have.
Are you aware of any program of the previous or current government to assist those people in countries we go to? I know we're short in helping our own people, but if we don't offer some sort of psychological counselling to young people in Afghanistan or Bosnia, then they could end up becoming the terrorists of tomorrow. Are there any programs that you're aware of where we can assist in helping those young people get through? If a soldier is there for six months and comes back with post-traumatic stress disorder, can you imagine what it's like for the people who go through this every day, almost? It must be very tragic.
I have two other quick questions. How do you separate real PTSD from someone who might be faking it? I had one person call me up a while ago who served a tour over in Cyprus. I checked, and he had seen no combat. He even admitted it. He heard so many stories from other people that he lived it himself, almost. He wanted to get that disability for the PTSD, if you see what I mean. How do you separate the real PTSD from that of someone who may be trying to fake it a bit?
Also, one person in Halifax told me that it is possible to transfer your PTSD on to a family member. Is it possible to do that? A soldier comes home after he or she has witnessed such terrible things; they've related these things to their spouse in a way that maybe wasn't appropriate, and then the spouse now develops some form of strain because of that.