Public Accounts committee  We'll always have paper records for people who've served before 2011.

Public Accounts committee  The news today is five weeks.

Public Accounts committee  We don't treat veterans.

Public Accounts committee  While still serving in uniform, the short answer is no. We drag people in and we do everything we can. We have multiple mechanisms across the armed forces to bring people into care—

Public Accounts committee  Just that the protection of the confidentiality of the health information of our troops is critical, vital ground for us. If our troops, especially those with sensitive conditions like mental health conditions have the slightest concern that we are not strictly protecting their confidentiality, and completely complying with all elements of the Privacy Act strictly, then we run the risk of those people suffering from mental health conditions, who are already vulnerable, not presenting for care and their conditions getting worse and worse until, in some cases, they'll commit suicide.

Public Accounts committee  Individuals with mental health problems are kept in the Canadian armed forces for a long time. They sometimes remain there for a number of years before employment restrictions are placed on them that no longer allow them to pursue military service. If they are kept in their position as soldiers, we may not be doing them any good.

Public Accounts committee  We are the only organization in Canada that conducts a complete analysis of each suicide, on a case-by-case basis. Our analysis shows that roughly half of the individuals who committed suicide were receiving treatment. This data is similar to data for the general public. The other half was not receiving treatment.

Public Accounts committee  For each suicide, a psychiatrist and a general practitioner conduct an in-depth analysis. However, in no case did the timeliness of care or the waiting time have an impact on the suicide. These were either individuals who were not receiving treatment because they hadn't asked for it, or people who were receiving good care, as is often the case in the general public.

Public Accounts committee  That's right.

Public Accounts committee  Right. There have been incremental increases over time as a result of various other studies conducted during the operations in Afghanistan, and subsequent to that over the last couple of years based on tweaking the numbers that we deem required to address the demand.

Public Accounts committee  No, the analysis is still going on. There are about 50 subanalyses going on in that study.

Public Accounts committee  No. We have a network of anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 external mental health providers. When a psychiatrist or a psychologist is not available, nobody is not getting mental health care. Everybody from day one, if it's an urgent requirement, sees a psychiatrist or psychologist the same day.

Public Accounts committee  So far our assessment is that at steady state that will be what we need. That was based on a 2002 study. We're reviewing it all based on the Canadian Armed Forces mental health survey of 2013, where we're still doing lots of analyses with regard to it. But there will always be surges, ups and downs, depending on demand.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as Surgeon General, I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you about the measures being taken by the Canadian Armed Forces to address the two recommendations made by the Auditor General in chapter 3 of his 2014 report, entitled Mental Health Services to Veterans.

National Defence committee  No, nothing like that.