Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for being here. We appreciate your expertise and candour, because this is very important.
We need to get to the bottom of this. We have heard so much and got so much information from veterans that is contradicted by experts or people from VAC or DND, it's frustrating and renders our ability to do the right thing questionable. I want to get down to some brass tacks.
I was with veterans on the west coast over the weekend. They told me that of course they're masking and denying their injury because to admit it means that they're out, that they will be on the outside of a brotherhood or sisterhood, a family that they need to stay connected with.
They also told me that members within the Canadian Forces are suicidal too. It's not just when they're thrown out. They're suicidal too, but all of that information is being managed and they're transitioned out so that if they are going to commit suicide, they're not in the Canadian Forces. They're on the outside and DND doesn't have to account for those deaths.
All of this is frustrating. I'm sure there are various opinions on this, but the point is that the trust has been broken. These were angry veterans and they talked about the triggers, the mountain of paperwork, the fact that they were financially insecure. They left without pensions or financial supports and they didn't know what to do and they felt that the only way out was to end it all, that they were of no use to their families, and they were either hiding in somebody's basement or they were lashing out.
What do we do? It's a catch-22. How do we re-engage those veterans? How do we re-establish that trust?
General, you talked about this study. Is that study available to us, the CDS study, the strategy you talked about? Is that available to us?
You also talked about things that should be happening with mental health and you don't know where they are. All of this combines to make us wonder what is going on, where are the support services, and when can we expect that there will be a genuine response that meets the needs of these veterans.
I know that that's a lot and there's not really a question in there, but please respond.