Madam Chair, I am pleased to be here in the presence, in particular, of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Natynczyk. He has been a leader in this regard, addressing these issues specifically.
On the resource side we have seen an additional $100 million, I mentioned that earlier, directly invested in the important mental health and overall health budget of the Canadian Forces. We have put in place a number of programs that encourage members of the forces and their families and veterans to come forward and address these issues of mental health, address the stigma around these issues.
As a department, we have received national recognition from the Mental Health Association of Canada. We continue to make these investments because we understand that, with the high operational tempo that we have seen in recent years in Afghanistan, we have members of the Canadian Forces and their families who need that support. That is why any changes we are seeing now will not affect direct core health services, particularly those around mental health treatment.