Certainly. Then you don't have it, but when you do get it, it offers a lot of background. It was a very in-depth conversation with Minister MacKay.
Our story is public, was public, and will always be public. There has been no redaction in any of the papers we've given you.
I'd like to begin here. Captain Terry Riordon: positive test for depleted uranium; Pascal Lacoste, positive test for uranium; Frank Stansbury, positive test for depleted uranium; Captain Terry Riordon, dead; Master Warrant Officer John Michael Peace, dead; Sergeant Larry Robertson, dead; Corporal Ken Burneau, non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Sergeant Larry Robertson, non-Hodgkin lymphoma; Master Warrant Officer Steve Dornan, non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and Corporal Dave Sherbanowski, Hodgkin lymphoma.
All of these men with lymphatic cancer were under the age of 40 when they were diagnosed with lymphoma. It's a very unusual age to be diagnosed, as the median age for being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 66. Are there more who we don't know about? We may never know, as Veterans Affairs Canada does not keep such records.
All of these men were either in the first Gulf War or Bosnia, or they served on Canadian ships where depleted uranium weaponry was proven to be used. Contrary to what Dr. Morisset said, that Canadians never used depleted uranium weaponry, it was used in testing—never in battle, but it was used in testing.
I have more names in my personal database. We've been doing this for 10 years; we know this stuff: more men and women who know they have been exposed to depleted uranium while serving in the Canadian military and are sick, dead, or dying.
There are some things I'd like you to think about. First, how does our government explain this? Surely this group cannot be considered a coincidence or, as Dr. Lalonde has suggested, a sporadic event. There are too many common factors for that. My second question is, how is it that my database of these men and women exists and no such database is available within Veterans Affairs Canada? To add to my last question, why are Canadian Forces members and veterans who self-report or are tested at their own expense not included in any database or Canadian cohort study, especially when the results are positive? Why doesn't Veterans Affairs Canada or our government pay for this DU testing at an external, non-governmental laboratory with mass spectrometry equipment sensitive enough to detect depleted uranium and isolate 238U, 235U, and 234U isotopes?
Lastly, how can such a report as this one we are here today discussing be written and not take into consideration those who have died, been diagnosed with cancer that is rare in young men, or have test results that state that they have been contaminated with depleted uranium? How can it be written without consideration of major animal studies or their results?
Had this been done, the argument presented to you in this report—and I quote from the report—that “It is unlikely that Canadian soldiers have been exposed to levels of depleted uranium which could be harmful to their health”, would be heard with much more skepticism.
As for this report, I personally feel it is imbalanced, incomplete, misleading, and lacking in objectivity. You're not getting the whole story. You're getting what they want you to hear. Soldiers are dead. Test results are positive and depleted uranium is very likely the culprit. We have met the benefit of doubt.
Our son is in the military and we need to know that he and his wife, who is also in the military, won't have to go through what we did.
I just want to speak to something Peter MacKay said about autopsies. We have prepared, when Steven does pass away, to have an autopsy, a bone marrow—