Evidence of meeting #31 for Veterans Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was soldiers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Madame, so much for coming. I'd like to hear you talk. What would have helped your son, and what would have helped your family? You can give as many recommendations as you want.
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
If I had not gone to the inquiry, I would never have found out that my son had tried to kill himself. I would like to have been informed that Frédéric had tried to kill himself before. If I had known, my approach would have been completely different. I would have probably demanded that he be provided with a lot more care than he got. That is one of my main recommendations.
Does that answer your question?
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Yes.
You heard the previous testimony. Knowing what your family has been through, so this doesn't happen to other families, what support would you like Veterans Affairs to give families?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
Soldiers receive preparation in order to go over there. I went to Afghanistan two weeks ago. I realized that we are all traumatized to different degrees. My feeling is that the first stage of the trauma soldiers go through happens when they come back. Our families ought to be made aware of that. When soldiers are wounded over there, someone has to look after them immediately, not only physically, but mentally too.
In my son's case, the only care he got was physical. They gave him the best care possible, except psychologically.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
First, he was going through two traumas. There was the trauma of going there and the trauma of having lost a limb. There was also the fact that he had to have more operations. If he had been able to see a psychologist right away, I feel that it would have changed things considerably.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
He was only seen once by a psychologist, for 15 minutes? That was it?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
It happened five months after he came back; it took 15 minutes, at home, at my home. I was there. I couldn't get over it. I did not understand why it was like that. I told myself that surely he needed more help. But Frédéric was a soldier. He did not talk about it because he saw it as weakness. He did not want to show weakness because he was a soldier.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Do you think we could do a better job of making it okay for our soldiers to talk? Maybe if people who've been awarded medals speak out, it will help save lives. What do you think we could do differently to make it easier for our soldiers to speak out?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
I think they need to call on someone with whom they went over. There are a lot of soldiers who go over. Take someone from their group whom they trust completely to make the approach.
When they come back from Afghanistan, they spend a week in Cyprus, I think. They could see them when they get to Cyprus; that could be the first time. Then they could also see them three months later, not wait until the soldier goes to see them. That should be the normal procedure, just like the procedure that prepares them to go over.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
He was being treated by doctors for, I think, eight months for the physical wounds. This was a young man who had to adjust to a terrible physical injury. Did no one among those doctors who were treating him follow up to see how he was doing mentally?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
No, because Frédéric was the first soldier to come back from Afghanistan, in the Montreal region, at least. We did not understand why Frédéric was not transferred straight to Valcartier because that is where he lived. But they took him to Montreal saying that he would be close to his family. But that was no reason, in my opinion. He needed to be surrounded by soldiers because the military was his life. There was no reason to put him back in the civilian world, but that is where he was treated.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON
Would it have been helpful to him, do you think, to have his family nearby? Should we be making it easier for the families to be near the soldiers when they come home?
4:45 p.m.
As an Individual
Yes, that would be good, but it would also be good to have his buddies by his side, because that was his life.
4:45 p.m.
Bloc
Robert Vincent Bloc Shefford, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Could you explain what happened in Afghanistan? You said that something happened. For the benefit of the people here, could you tell us what happened, starting from the moment he stepped on the mine. What happened then? What are the circumstances of the accident?
4:45 p.m.
As an Individual
Frédéric showed me…It was posed on YouTube. I did not know that Frédéric had tried to kill himself, because there was no sound.
4:45 p.m.
As an Individual
When he stepped on the mine, a few minutes after stepping on the mine. In the YouTube video, when you hear “no, no, no“, it's because Frédéric had taken his weapon, but it jammed and did not fire. Otherwise, he would have killed himself.
4:45 p.m.
Bloc
Robert Vincent Bloc Shefford, QC
There on patrol, right where he was wounded? He first tried to kill himself right on the battlefield, when the mine went off and injured his foot, but his weapon jammed? Do I have that right?
