I am the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, a riding on Montreal's north shore.
I became aware of a first case in my riding near the end of June 1997. We hadn't yet finished painting the inside of my office to make it nice. One of my sons, or someone my son's age—I consider them as my children—came in. No doubt, you will recognize the name François Gignac. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The horror story he told me floored me. It was so horrible that I couldn't believe it. I secretly arranged to meet with his wife, and she confirmed that this young man was really going through what he had told me. It was at that moment that I swore to myself that I would do everything for these young people.
I can tell you that what I saw and experienced in 1997, 1998 and 1999, was a horror story. No one knew you back then. As you said, in 2006, the door was finally opened and recognition given to mental injuries, as you said so well.
I must admit, since 2006, we have made progress, but we have just scratched the surface. We still have a very long way to go. I am even at another stage, that of beginning to try to take care of future young veterans, those in the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan today. We must consider how we're going to treat them when they come back and how they are being treated within the framework of the current mission.
I was shocked when you said that a mental injury was the same as losing an arm. Do you believe that the Canadian Forces should include more psychologists and psychiatrists on missions, just as there are doctors on hand to treat shoulder wounds? Are the Canadian Forces open to including more individuals on missions to care for mental injuries?