Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion moved by the hon. member for Châteauguay—Saint-Constant. I want to point out that if there is any time left over, I will share it with the hon. member for Windsor West.
Some members in the House know that I used to be a soldier. I enlisted on May 11, 2002, as a medical assistant in the reserves. Then I spent some time in the regular forces as an armour officer cadet.
Having been a soldier has changed me as a person. It has forever changed my personality. I was no longer the same person when I left the forces. I learned how to work on a team, even if I did not always like the people I was required to work with. I had to work with them nonetheless. I learned to take responsibility even though it was not always easy and even though I was tired at times. I learned that there is no one to blame but me. I learned that sometimes I have to accept that I am wrong and take responsibility for my mistakes instead of blaming everyone else for my problems.
I learned to manage my fear and stress. As soldiers, we do not learn how to overcome fear; we learn how to manage it. If we lose our fear, then we become reckless and that can be fatal. I learned to push my limits and exceed them. All those skills have made me a different person. I would say that the majority of veterans also learned to be different.
It is often said, once a soldier always a soldier. It is true. The people we served with will always be our brothers and sisters. The Canadian flag will always have a special meaning for us. Every day for the rest of our lives, our national anthem, O Canada, will stir up certain emotions. Maybe that is why I am so proud to sing it every Wednesday. Even though I do not have such a great singing voice, I love singing our national anthem.
There is something else that is different about us. Even if soldiers do not believe in the politics of a mission—we agree that soldiers have political opinions—we still want to go because we do not want to let our brothers and sisters go alone. We want to participate even if, in the end, we do not believe the political reasons the people we serve under have given for the mission.
We help and support one another. I remember that, when I was a soldier, even though I weighed only 110 pounds—I will not say how much I weigh now, but at the time I was quite petite—I grabbed a second rucksack and carried it because one of my colleagues was injured. I walked with two rucksacks. Even though they weighed approximately 60 to 80 pounds each, I did it. Another time, I took a C9 machine gun, which is a heavier weapon, and I gave my much lighter gun to an injured colleague. I wanted him to carry a lighter load.
We take care of one another. Even when the problems are psychological, we try to support one another as best we can. However, it is problematic when too many people have mental health issues and are suffering. Someone who is injured and hurting cannot help his or her colleagues as much. There is an imbalance and that is when there is a problem.
The number of disturbing stories I have heard is nevertheless surprising. A colleague told me that he saw a river in Rwanda that was red with blood and had corpses floating in it. He will carry those images with him for the rest of his life. I also heard about Yugoslavia. A colleague took down bodies that had been nailed to a wall. That too stays with you for the rest of your life. People have told me about unimaginable injuries, smells that will stay with them forever. All those images stay in your mind. Why did they tell me about them? Maybe because they thought that I could understand, that I would know what they were experiencing and that I would be able to listen without judging.
Canadian Forces members often talk about why they joined the military, but they do not often talk about why they left.
Today, I am going to talk about those reasons. I would like to say that all of our men and women in uniform are truly wonderful people who are dedicated to their duty. I have nothing bad to say about any of the people in uniform I served with.
However, after being assigned to the holding platoon for various reasons, I realized that the managers and administrators who do not wear a uniform are sometimes—and I would even go so far as to say often—out of touch with the reality and the practical needs of the people on the ground. At the time, I was an officer cadet, but I told myself that I would not be able to give explanations to the soldiers. When a soldier would come and see me to ask why his medical file had been on hold for over a year, I would be unable to explain to him why the government had not taken action.
At first, I wanted to stay, but I finally decided to leave the armed forces. The first thing I did after I left, in December 2005, was to run in the federal election as the NDP candidate for the riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue. It was one of the first things I did. I decided that I was going to fight for my former brothers and sisters, that I was going to try to make a difference for them. I decided to fight for the things that are important to me, to fight for my home region and for the people who watched me grow up. I am very happy to do so. It is a different way of fighting, but it is just as important.
Soldiers are taught how to fight and to go to war. They become experts in this area. However, they are not taught how to fight with words against public servants who force them to fill out an endless number of forms and go through countless processes. Veterans have said that they get the impression that they are at war against their government.
It is unbelievable. They are experiencing mental anguish because of all the horrific images they have in their minds from the atrocities they have witnessed. However, when they ask for help, all the government seems to want to do is undermine them; put obstacles in their way; and think nothing of sending them here, there and everywhere in search of documents.
They are told to find help online or on the phone. It is already hard to talk about what they went through in person, to someone they know or to their loved ones. It is already hard to speak to a sympathetic-looking person, and now they are being told that they will have to try talking about their emotions online or on the phone. That makes no sense. If they manage to get professional help, there is a good chance that this professional will be tired and worn out because there are never as many professionals as are needed.
In light of this, is it so surprising that the stress is causing some people to commit suicide? The minister does not think it is right to link the suicides to the closing of the centres. I do not think it is right that the Conservatives are not asking whether closing these centres will increase the risk of psychological stress and suicide. That is not right, and the minister needs to put a stop to this.
We ask soldiers to be brave and to fight. We asked soldiers not to be afraid to give their life for their country. However, now, Conservative members are unable to rise and are all too afraid to tell the Prime Minister and the Minister of Veterans Affairs that this is not the right thing to do. Is that it? Do they lack the honour to be able to say that?
It is unacceptable, and that is why I believe that all members should adopt the NDP's motion. They should all say that no, we will not abandon our veterans.