Mr. Doherty, I've long written about the huge gap between the rhetoric and the actions.
What happens, especially with veterans with mental health illnesses, is that when they hear government say these words but the actions show something different.... When they show up at Veterans Affairs and they meet this debilitating bureaucracy, when the letters come in those brown envelopes that say no, when they have to wait on the phones, these are all messages that say, “Hey, wait a minute, the Prime Minister said something very meaningful. I believe in that. I was willing to die for that. If the government is not going to treat me the way the government promises, then the fault's with me. I must be at fault. I must be the one.” The shaming is so intense.
I have spoken with countless veterans and I can tell you, including for me, the suicidal reaction is immediate. The shame is immediate. There needs to be widespread sensitivity training in mental health illness, especially for veterans, throughout Veterans Affairs, and I would say, in Parliament.