The serving member--they can be serving and a veteran also, as you know--although not necessarily overtly conscious of it, is expecting that the social contract of the unlimited liability clause between the individual and the people of this country is forever. It is not a short-term contract, such as an insurance policy. For that person--and the family--having committed to a place where he could have been killed, as some are, or injured for life, the Government of Canada will forever be that backdrop to which they can turn as part of that social responsibility, that social contract.
That is not articulated well yet, and is not felt well. There is this feeling that they are dropping off the radar when they are identified as an injured veteran and then become a veteran.
I remember when I was serving it was honourable to have a physical injury. In fact it was called an “honourable injury”. I remember at happy hour a guy showing me where he had been shot in the buttocks. He never bought a beer for weeks after that. But there were also guys sitting in the corner who always seemed to have a lip on, who were sort of hiding between the paint and the wall. Nobody talked to them, and they talked to no one. They were often mad and difficult to handle. They were those who were affected psychologically. It was nearly considered not an honourable injury: you couldn't hack it.
The Darwinian nature of the forces and the absolute dependency of every member on the other in operations create an incredible intolerance. That intolerance is essential in the field. However, when you come back to garrison and you lick your wounds, there has to be a way of transitioning that into a level of respect.
I would contend that it is culture change, and there is a process going on in the forces. The CDS last year launched a very significant culture change exercise. We are getting less of the intolerance than we used to have. I think one of the greatest advantages we have now is that we have a forces of veterans. It's sort of like the fifties. You have a bunch of veterans and you have non-veterans. Usually the intolerance comes from the non-veterans, even at different ranks. But now we have enough of a volume of veterans at all ranks, including general officers, who are going to attenuate that sort of perspective of you weren't there, you don't know how it was, and that is an injury; that is coming more and more to the fore.
I think it will be interesting to see the leadership of the forces managing the veterans part of the forces with the non-veterans and ensuring that synergy between the two.