Thank you, sir.
Before I start my remarks, I would like to mention that my mother, Marie Richard, is here with me. She's a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient for this year. I'm very proud of her. She's a co-founder of the yellow ribbon support group, from back when we went to the Gulf War. She also has been a very passionate advocate along with me every step of the way. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my mother.
[Applause]
Also, my brother, Pierre Richard, is sitting behind us. I'm very pleased that he came up from Montreal.
Thank you.
I was born into a military family of great military tradition. My grandfather, my mother's father, was a World War II veteran, an officer. My uncle, her brother, was a logistics officer. My brother Pierre was a Royal 22nd Regiment officer, and my father was a lieutenant-general with the R22R.
I'm an RN. I have a post-graduate degree in mental health. I'm a disabled 1990-91 Persian Gulf War veteran. That also was known as Gulf War I or Desert Shield/Desert Storm. I will share with you my personal experience to enable you to better understand where this whole nightmare started and why so many of us are seriously ill, dying, or dead.
For 22 long years now, our war and the various serious lasting health consequences have yet to be addressed, and not from lack of trying, trust me. What's interesting today is that this is the day 22 years ago that I came back from the Gulf War. I'm blessed to still be alive. A lot of my colleagues are no longer with us.
I was 29 years old. I was very athletic. I recently had been promoted to captain. I was in the prime of my life, my health, and my career. I was sent to the Gulf War on January 24, 1991, as a nurse, a member of the advanced surgical contingent. We were fewer than 50. Colonel Claude Auger was our commanding officer and also our surgeon.
Preparation for deployment was very chaotic, confusing, and very fast. It was comprised of many inoculations. To name a few, there were inoculations for typhoid, meningitis, yellow fever, cholera, influenza, and hepatitis B, too many in too short a timeframe. Protocols weren't followed.
As if that weren't enough, shortly upon my arrival in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, I was inoculated with biological warfare agents, such as anthrax with pertussis, bubonic plague, and botulism toxoid. These were the known vaccines received. Most vaccines were never documented in our vaccination books. I had many flu-like symptoms and achiness, but I had a very serious reaction to the anthrax vaccine.
Over and above all of this, we were ordered to take a little pill every eight hours. It was called pyridostigmine bromide, or NAPS. It was a prophylactic agent against nerve gas exposure. Just that pill alone caused a lot of illness and gave me very serious side effects, such as sweating, urination, hypersalivation, and difficulty in seeing. This was in the desert, so it was very unusual to have these kinds of side effects. We were also issued DEET, a body insect repellant. We were given experimental drugs and vaccines without our knowledge or consent.
Shortly after our arrival in the Middle East we were deployed to southern Saudi Arabia in the desert, less than 20 kilometres from the Iraq-Kuwait border. We amalgamated our tents and our operating room theatre with the British 32 Field Hospital. Ninety-five per cent of our patients, our casualties, were Iraqi prisoners of war. They were infested with lice and communicable diseases and covered in shrapnel and open wounds. God only knows where they were and what they were exposed to before reaching us. We also had the responsibility, along with the British, to take care of over 5,000 Iraqi prisoners of war.
Organophosphates, a very strong pesticide, was liberally sprayed on tents and surrounding areas to keep the desert creepy-crawlies at bay.
Since I was there during the air and ground war, we had numerous Scud alerts. The sirens went off many times. After a while we were told to ignore the false alarms and not bother with our protective suits. Often the gas mask was worn just to help us breathe and protect ourselves against the toxic oil and smoke from the over 800 oil wells set ablaze.
For the first time in the history of modern warfare, depleted uranium ammunition was used. The massive number of bombs, cluster bombs, bullets, various artillery shells all contain DU. The Americans used over 350 tonnes, and God knows how much the Brits used. Close to one million DU shells were fired during the first Gulf War.
Depleted uranium does not occur naturally. It is not found in nature. DU is a byproduct of the industrial processing of waste from nuclear reactors, better known as weapons-grade uranium. It's a toxic radiological waste. It's cheap and plentiful.
A DU shell bursts into flames as soon as it leaves its delivery device. When it hits its target, it burns on impact and creates an extreme temperature of over 2,000 degrees Celsius, releasing into the air billions of invisible little radioactive particles. This extreme fine dust of aerosolized, vaporized uranium oxide consists of metallic microparticles that are smaller than a virus or a bacteria.
DU emits alpha radiation, ionizing radiation. It's chemically toxic and radioactive. One becomes exposed if it's inhaled, ingested through the eyes, in contact with open wounds, contaminated clothing, prisoners of war, blown-up tanks, battle debris, shrapnel spread into the environment by desert winds, contaminating everything in its path. It remains toxic and radioactive for 4.5 billion years.
It's highly dangerous internally. Depleted uranium contamination causes virtually every known illness. It clings to the respiratory system for years, even decades, and irradiate the surrounding tissues, damaging neighbouring organs. Gradually it passes through the lung blood membranes into the bloodstream and lymphatic system causing illness to the entire body.
Radiation mutates cells causing cancers, leukemia, lymphoma, congenital disorder, and birth defects. They enter the bloodstream and circulate freely through the body, emitting radiation as they travel. Some concentrate in lymph nodes and cause lymphatic cancer, others in the bladder, the brain, and cause kidney damage, as we're aware of. Eventually it settles in major organs, the bones, and the teeth.
Many soldiers brought contaminated debris home with them as war souvenirs without knowing the dangers of it. We were never told about the use of DU on the battlefield, let alone how to protect ourselves against it. At the end of our war I don't know what nitwit chose to bring this blown-up tank into our compound, but it was an Iraqi tank that had been blown up, and obviously it was contaminated with DU, but we were not aware of it at all.
The Persian Gulf War veterans in 1 CER were exposed to the most toxic battlefield ever known to mankind. We were in an abnormal environment, under abnormal conditions, and suffered abnormal exposures. Since most of us suffer from abnormal and unique, very serious and debilitating chronic symptoms, illnesses, and diseases, it has become known as Gulf War illness, medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illness. Gulf War illness is characterized by a combination of memory and concentration problems, persistent headaches, unexplained fatigue, widespread pain, chronic digestive problems, respiratory problems, skin rashes, and so on.
Scientific evidence leaves no question that Gulf War illness is a real condition. They are objective biological measures that relate to structure and functioning of the brain, of the autonomic nervous system, neuroendocrine system, and immune alterations and variability in enzymes that protect the body from neurotoxic chemicals, also known as PON1. It's an enzyme that helps metabolize any kind of toxins through the system.
A scientific report says that Gulf War illness fundamentally differs from stress-related syndromes described after other wars. Studies consistently indicate that Gulf War vets have lower rates of PTSD than veterans from other wars. Gulf War illness and depleted uranium: this is a new phenomenon. It's unknown to medical science. It's a new medical condition.
All governments for the past 22 years, which include five prime ministers, 14 ministers of veterans affairs and 12 ministers of national defence, have done everything to lie, deny, mislead the ill and disabled veterans and their families, mislead the Canadian public, and make all believe that all is fine with us and we are very well taken care of. Canada has downplayed this very serious health consequence that has plagued us for over 22 long years now. We are sent by Parliament to the worst hellholes on earth to protect and respect our human rights and our democracy, only to come home and have them stripped away by our own governments that sent us to war.
Many spouses, children, and civilian populations are also ill with Gulf War illness. One in three is ill, getting worse, dying, or dead. More than 80,000 U.S. Army vets have died since their return from the 1991 Gulf War. Over 8,000 U.K. vets have died also. How many Canadians? Who knows? No one seems to care or know.
We are released from DND undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or not diagnosed at all. We're left untreated. We're left on our own to find our own doctors, civilian doctors, specialists, therapists, psychiatrists. Canadian vets have been totally abandoned. Our symptoms, illnesses, and concerns have been minimized, belittled, ignored—stress. As for the doctors and specialists we do find who are willing to take us on, VAC has the nerve to challenge their diagnoses, their treatments, and their credentials. Veterans Affairs dictates to us how many treatments, and the distance we can travel on our claims. Policy always overrules the needs of the ill veteran.
Veterans' medical files and immunization books are either missing or simply nothing was documented, and there is very little documented upon release. We have since personally experienced the military's removing important key documents from veterans' files. They have also blacked out information in the files. How is a vet to prove what he or she is suffering from and relate it directly to military service when the needed documents are nowhere to be found?
This goes against us for VAC applications and appeals, since you must prove that what you are applying for and suffer from is directly related to your military service. Veterans and families must be granted the benefit of the doubt. The burden of proof should be on VAC, not on the disabled veteran. Wasn't going to war enough? Many wars and missions have occurred in the past 20 years with Canadian involvement: the Gulf War, Somalia, Rwanda, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Balkans, Afghanistan. We know that depleted uranium was also used in Bosnia, in the Balkans, in Afghanistan, and also in Iraq.
The Gulf War veterans and modern combat vets as a whole have been made to feel like toxic waste that has been disposed of and dumped onto our provinces, our families, and significant others who are expected to care for us and understand our needs and illnesses without any knowledge, direction, or support from National Defence, Veterans Affairs, or Parliament. Instead of investing in science and research, proper diagnostics, and treatments, VAC and our government chose to create more legislation, more red tape, and more roadblocks. Why is Canada not contributing to ongoing international research on these very serious and complex medical issues and illnesses?
Our VAC research department is pathetic. It's focused on geriatrics. It's totally isolated in Prince Edward Island. It's totally out of touch with the real world, and stuck in a rut. The VAC website is not helpful at all either. Why is the American research not on there? Why is the Canadian Blood Services' indefinite deferral of the XMRV for those of us diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome not on there? This came into effect in 2010.
If Canada can't or won't be part of the ongoing research, well then let's embrace the countries that are, mainly the U.S.A. Include us. Apply their findings, their very credible and conclusive science and research, and treatment approaches. Give us some hope, some answers, and eventually some quality of life. The U.S.A. has spent close to a billion dollars in the past 20 years to try to find answers, treatments that may be helpful. Since 2008 the U.S.A.'s Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses states that it's a real illness and differs from trauma and stress-related syndromes.
We have a Canadian professor from the University of Alberta, Dr. Gordon Broderick, who's working with the research advisory committee on Gulf War illness. He's also working with Dr. Nancy Klimas exactly on this XMRV. They're working on biomarkers right now. That is supported by the CDMRP.
Canada needs to implement something similar to what the U.S.A. has for veterans with medically unexplained multi-symptom illness and presumptive diseases, the nine infectious diseases, presumptive and associated diseases with radiation exposure related to the first Gulf War, the conflict in Iraq, or Afghanistan. Please go on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website for all the pertinent and life-saving information.
How dare Veterans Affairs Canada withhold such important science, possible treatments, and diagnoses from our vets and families and from the doctors and specialists trying to help us? Doing so just seems to prolong the pain and suffering. To many of us, it's criminal.
To date the approach and responses from our government and responsible authorities have been ones of total abandonment, criminal negligence, and total reckless disregard. This situation is not only a national tragedy but also a scandal of national interest.
Too many vets have died at the hands of our government. I'll name a few. There was Michael Peace, who had been in Bosnia. There was Terry Riordon, who died from depleted uranium and heavy metal toxicity. He was a Gulf War veteran. He died in April 1998. We're very familiar with his wife Susan, who has come to Ottawa numerous times. Brian Dyck had ALS. He was a Gulf War veteran. He died October 8, 2010. Minister Blackburn at the time came forward on October 15, 2010, basically saying that based on the latest medical research, our government had made changes so that veterans affected by ALS could obtain the help and support they needed and deserved more quickly than ever before. That was on October 15, 2010.
In the United States, through their research, in 2008 the VA established ALS as a presumptive compensable illness for all veterans with 90 days or more of continuous service in the military, with no need to prove anything. Right there we're already two years late on the research. Brian Dyck and his family weren't able to benefit from their legitimate diagnosis or to get any kind of treatment and help.
Veterans and families have earned, deserve, and need the best care this country has to offer. Veterans Affairs Canada is mandated to care for the veterans and their families, to acknowledge us, and to recognize the seriously ill and disabled modern veteran community. Every single disability application since 1990, for those living or deceased, needs to be reopened and re-examined with a fresh and bold new look in respect of the conclusive science and research.
In today's war zones, battlefields may not disable, but their effects may be felt when soldiers return home. Our war wounds may not be visible to the human eye, but that doesn't negate the fact that we are seriously ill.
It is said that a country is judged by how its veterans are treated and taken care of. I would say Canada has a failing grade.
If Canada can't or won't take care of us, then don't send us.
