There truly has to be an independent process. Currently, they use our progress notes, psychological reports, in addition to the medical doctor and psychiatrist's report, as well as therapeutic material and clinical documents to determine the sum of money.
There are cases of soldiers who come back angry because they did not receive the compensation they thought they were entitled to, in light of the level of suffering they feel. They ask why we're not listening to them and what we have not understood. As providers of treatment, that puts us in a very uncomfortable situation.
We must truly separate the evaluation related to the treatment, that is the work that I carry out, in addition to that done by other Defence mental health professionals, from the assessment, the procedure used to establish the monetary amount of the pension. This must really be separate in order to avoid that type of situation.
I also want to point out that we are not saying that soldiers are manifesting symptoms in order to receive money. This is not the case. In fact, it's absolutely human. I believe that a soldier is financially penalized if his state of health improves. There is a financial penalty associated to improved health. It is the system which is detrimental to the treatment. There is no trace of bad intentions or manipulation, but if a soldier sees one of his colleagues receiving compensation, he will naturally ask why he hasn't received as much. Therefore, he challenges the treatment, the work of the professionals, whose job it not to establish the amount of money.
All of this confusion leads us to say that the two processes, that of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and ours, should be distinct.