I would also like to reply in French. Thank you for your question.
With regard to education about the injuries caused by operational stress, the military is a captive audience for us. It is easy for us to require each employee to attend a presentation on the subject before being deployed. But this is not the case with families. We have to convince them to come and meet with us. Even if we could meet with them, be it in a resource centre or in the community, they still remain free to come or not to come. This makes things more complicated when we try to contact them.
In family support centres, we have developed protocols for working together so as to communicate more with them. One of the duties of our coordinators, Ms. Underhill and Ms. Muise, consists in doing a great deal of outreach and in trying to cooperate as much as possible with existing community resources. With regard to families, more specifically, our coordinators must rely on community resources in order to meet many needs. Community services are also useful for the military and for veterans. Thus, things get much more complicated.
You have read our mandates, certainly we must develop support networks, but education is also needed. About a year and a half ago, our sections were separated so that education could get the attention and the resources it needs to develop properly. The Department of National Defence then created what we call the Joint Speakers Bureau. We call it a joint bureau because the health services of the Canadian Forces, both clinical and non-clinical, are in charge of all the training regarding mental health issues. We are preparing a national campaign within the Department of National Defence to discuss mental health issues. There is also a program for families.
Are we anywhere close to saying that the information is available and easily accessible? Not yet, but as Ms. Darte said, we are improving. We have not reached perfection yet.