Mr. Chair, and sir, I'm in touch with these widows and veterans with PTSD three or four times a week. In fact, recently I was in touch with a family that had a recent suicide in a certain province. The unfortunate part is that when DVA comes out to speak to the actual veteran, the spouse is never there and not really required. I think it is important that when a Veterans Affairs counsellor communicates with a veteran, in particular one with PTSD, that the spouse is there to get the full story. What's happening is that they're fading away from the spouse and the dependants. Oftentimes when we're in the business of pensions, as advocates or counsellors with DVA, we deal strictly with the veteran. That's where we're missing the boat. That's why these spouses or widows appeared this week.
I don't want to go into details, but I spoke to a recent widow. As a matter of fact her spouse's friend died about two weeks prior to that. He was a warrant officer and served with this last one who committed suicide. They served together in Afghanistan. Can you imagine how devastated that young 39-year-old sergeant must have felt? A red light should have come on somewhere with Veterans Affairs saying, “Uh oh, we have this one suicide. What about the effect of that on the others?” They're not communicating. DVA must communicate.
That's the problem. Because somebody lives not in Gagetown or Oromocto but over in the Miramichi or out in the bush, and it's too hard to get to—and they don't know where they live. Well I can tell you, gentlemen, marketing can find us better than DVA can find their veterans out in the wilderness. Something has to be done, and they must treat it as a priority.