Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 14th, 2013

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Yes, I am.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

What does it measure; what is it used for?

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

It measures external radiation. It was used when we were preparing for nuclear war, to measure external radiation. There were significant doses of radiation following bomb detonations.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Is it possible that a soldier carrying a DT-60/PD would be able to read exactly the degree of radiation to which he has been exposed?

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

It is not the same kind of radiation.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

But soldiers could read…

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

You could not draw any conclusion from it.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Did you have access to any DT-60/PD data, or would they not have been…

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

They would not have been of any use at all.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Thank you.

Over to you, Ms. Papillon.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

In your testimony, you said that, sometimes, no test can determine exactly what the veteran is suffering from, but that treatment is possible.

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Treatments are possible.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

I am not a doctor, but it seems to me to be a little strange to say that there is no test, but that treatment is possible. Some administrative bodies demand certain specific tests and they must be positive in order to have access to treatments. Is there a kind of disconnect in the system?

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

It is quite common. I am a doctor. If someone comes to me in tears and tells me that he is depressed, I can diagnose depression, but there is no test for depression. It is wrong to think that everything can be shown with physical tests, like blood tests, urine tests, X-rays or CT scans.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

If he suffers from chronic fatigue, for example, or some persistent symptoms, he needs a note from a doctor. He has to have one so that he can…

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Let us make sure we understand each other. Let me play the doctor again. If someone comes to see me and tells me that he is tired, I am going to try to find clinical reasons for that fatigue. Does he have anemia; does he have cancer? I am going to eliminate causes one by one. My first conclusion is not going to be that he is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. For example, if I examine the thyroid gland and find that everything is normal, I examine…

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Peter Stoffer]

Madame Papillon, I apologize, but we have gone over your four minutes. Thank you so much.

Now we'll go to Ms. Adams, please, for four minutes.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

My father actually worked in the uranium mines in Sudbury.

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Are you saying uranium mines in Sudbury or in Elliot Lake?

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

I mean Elliot Lake. You know your Sudbury geography very well.

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Well, I'm from there.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

I was born there, as were my brothers.

According to your testimony, Dr. Morisset, if an individual served in the Canadian armed forces, the most likely incident for any member of the Canadian armed forces to come in contact with DU, depleted uranium, would have been the Camp Doha fire. Is that correct?

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

Yes it is, from the information that we have.

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

You also mentioned earlier, though, that an individual who has an angiogram receives 15 times the exposure that our Canadian armed forces' members would have received at Doha.

[Dr. Pierre Morisset]

The radiation.