As far as the paid internships are concerned, I'll tell you what the problem is, it's not rocket science. Each province is responsible for its own health care system. So Quebec has chosen its own model. Is it the good one? I'm not criticizing it. However, that's why it is extremely difficult to compare one province with another in the areas of health or education. These are provincial jurisdictions. That's why it is extremely difficult to draw comparisons.
The program you were asking questions about is precisely the one we are studying here. The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs is trying to find ways to provide better services to three types of veterans: elderly veterans, that is, those 80 years old and over, those who participated in peace missions, and the younger veterans, especially those suffering from post-traumatic stress. We have to find ways to provide them with better treatment.
I am convinced that it would be a good idea for the Ordre des psychologues du Québec to meet with senior officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs. You said that there are enough psychologists in Quebec. If you draw the ratio, there are seven million Quebeckers and 8,000 psychologists, which represents about 0.01% of the population of Quebec.
In Afghanistan, there are 2,500 members of the Canadian Forces and 4,000 or 5,000 civilians on the ground, but there is only one psychiatrist and one nurse who has a certain amount of training in psychology or psychiatry, and then there are the chaplains, who save souls. That's all we have to treat our soldiers.
A little earlier, you asked whether we could focus on prevention. Yes, we can. We spend millions of dollars to train our soldiers in the United States for five or six months before sending them out on a mission. They are taught about post-traumatic stress for a couple of hours, they are told about the symptoms and the conditions. I am referring to what Dr. Chantal Descôteaux said; she is the Chief Medical Officer at CFB Valcartier.
I've been an MP for 11 years and it's barely been two years that the Department of National Defence has been quietly talking about psychological or operational injuries. The talk used to be all about nervous breakdown, semi-nervous breakdown, very nervous, not too nervous, all kinds of nervous breakdowns, but it only ever was nervous breakdowns. Sometimes, members committed suicide, which marks the unfortunate end of post-traumatic stress.
I've met with people my son's age who are suffering from post-traumatic stress. When I saw them, they were all “fucked up”—pardon my English—, they had “lost it”, they were on drugs, they were drunk, and they were divorced because their wives and children had left in fear, and it was really pathetic.
You have your work cut out for out. I am willing to help you make contacts. We could make the Department of Veterans Affairs more sensitive to the need to better train psychologists, to hire more of them, to have them work in isolated regions, not only in Quebec but in the rest of Canada as well. This is not an issue of politics or of country; this issue affects the health and future of our youth, these 25 or 30-year old kids who are all messed up.
That was my final, very emotional, comment. You can respond now. Thank you very much, that was terrific.
