Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good day.
I am Nina Usherwood, a 42-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. I served from 1979 until 2022, when I was medically released.
Veterans Affairs Canada does not recognize that my service experience is different from the service experience of male members because, as a woman, I faced discrimination throughout my career.
Veterans Affairs does not accept the physical impacts of the discrimination I experienced during my military career. Assessments from both the Canadian Forces health service psychologist and an occupational stress clinical psychologist hired by Veterans Affairs document the physical toll of the decades of the career-long discrimination as well as the mental injury I suffered.
Veterans Affairs continues to deny my claim that my type 2 diabetes is attributable to my military service. Veterans Affairs does not acknowledge the impact that the military's discrimination and highly sexualized culture has on the physical health of female veterans.
Research has established that discrimination, both overt and covert, can have a mental as well as a physical toll on health. Harris et al., in their 12-year study of 12,000 Australian women, found that perceived stress is a strong risk factor for diabetes, regardless of the presence of other risk factors like hypertension, physical activities, smoking, diet or weight.
Power et al., in their meta-analysis on stress and diabetes, show that emotional stress increases the development of diabetes. Sharma et al., in their article “Stress-Induced Diabetes: A Review”, show the biological mechanism by which chronic stress impacts diabetes.
Veterans Affairs Canada does not accept that discrimination experienced by veterans can have a physical cost as well as a mental cost. The discrimination that gender and sexual minorities continue to experience in the Canadian Armed Forces has an impact on the physical health of current and future veterans.
Thank you for listening. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.
Thank you.