Monsieur Lacoste, thank you for being here. Thank you for having the courage. Thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for your courage today.
I'm going to talk about the stigma, as you mentioned, while you were in the forces. When I talk to veterans, they say they can't wait to get back to Canada. They will enjoy the little things. There's this honeymoon phase when you get home, and then alcohol and drugs, sometimes, to dull the pain. Then you want to go back, because you don't fit in here.
They feel that if you come forward and ask for help, it can be seen as weakness by chain of command. It can be a career stopper. You're taught to bottle anger. It's weakness to show emotions. Then, when you ask for help, as you have, with post-traumatic stress disorder, it's hard to ask for help. It's hard to talk. Yet when you have the courage to ask for help, you're not given the help, and there's such urgency around getting the help.
Can you tell us three things that you would have expected that would have helped you and then helped your family?