Good afternoon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and the committee members, for this privileged invitation to speak to the great work being accomplished in Nova Scotia at the Veteran Farm Project. What I'm going to speak about today is my lived experiences and what I've seen on the farm.
I served Canada for 22 years in the army as a medic and was able to work within all three branches. I loved my time at sea the best. In 2018, I was being medically retired from the forces due to my physical and mental health conditions. It's terrible how common this has become.
I know individuals have come before me to give testimony of traumas they've endured while serving. These reports should not be our new normal. CAF must acknowledge the traumas done to all women and stop ignoring the truth. The truth is that military sexual trauma is woven into the fabric of what makes the Canadian Forces today.
Senior leadership has failed us, period. This sick, pervasive culture and ignorance of reality has given military sexual trauma decades to fester and become a cancer throughout the ranks. DND and Veterans Affairs, to this day, have yet to define what military sexual trauma is. The ombudsman's report, issued November 2020 and updated in May 2023, still reports that there is no clear definition of MST.
Why does sexual misconduct in the forces require a definition that's separate from the rest of Canada? The longer the forces take to give MST the description it deserves, the more that women will continue to fall victim. The second-guessing of themselves and the fear to make any noise cause them extra harm. Give these women the power to understand clearly that non-consensual sexual acts of any kind are not permitted and are not part of the Canadian Forces ethos. Senior leadership needs to give voice to what is really happening. They are allowing women to be harmed by those who should be protecting them.
I understand that all too well. I am a survivor of a long career filled with sexual traumas. I understand the loss of trust and institutional betrayal. It is a deep, festering wound. It is why I decided that the informal support of other women walking the same journey needed to come together. I started the Veteran Farm Project from a need to help others and contribute back to my community. I needed to regain my identity.
Our organization focuses on the healing, discovery and recovery for women. Spending time in nature, getting their hands dirty and looking at beautiful flowers are a few of the ways women find peace and relaxation on the farm. We do not provide formal peer support programs. Rather, we're allowing serving women and veterans a space to use the tools they've learned through other programs on the farm.
Our We Care Food program is now going into its seventh year. To date, our program and volunteers have helped deliver food packages to nearly 300 serving and veteran families. We're reaching nearly 1,000 individuals.
Helping others allows women to spend time together while supporting families with food insecurity. During these days, without even knowing, they are supporting each other through the informal peer support given. When women are supported in a way that fits their needs, they begin to thrive again. It saddens me that nearly all of our veterans and workshop participants on the farm are victims of sexual trauma. That is why the Veteran Farm Project Society is seeing such positive outcomes. It is women sharing with other women the understanding that they all have similar lived experiences.
The project that we started is growing, year after year. It wouldn't be possible without the funding and support we receive through VAC, the veteran and family well-being fund and provincial support from our local MPP. We can't forget the donations from the legions and artisans that also want to help. All of it makes a difference in the lives of veteran women.
Moving forward, I hope to see more local not-for-profit organizations find ways to support women veterans in their communities. Giving a space for women to explore new ideas and try different things only broadens the possibilities of their future. I hope to see long-term funding for projects like ours. We would be able to give them space to grow and we would be able to provide security and forward thinking.
What we do on the farm is very special and successful. We can tangibly see, hear, touch and know we are making a strong difference. It is my hope that one day there will be some beneficial research opportunities to understand how grassroots organizations can be so successful and thrive.
I want thank you again for allowing me to have this time to speak to the importance of giving women a safe place to begin their unique healing journey from the experiences they had in service.