National Defence committee  Indeed, it is a continuous process. The survey was completed in 2012. At that time, we started to implement even greater measures. As the Chief of the Defence Staff alluded to, on March 11 he implemented changes and improvements to our harassment program, and that was prior, as a matter of fact, to the recent media events.

National Defence committee  In terms of their propensity? Our recruiting standards, techniques, examine certainly—

National Defence committee  Yes. Have they changed?

National Defence committee  Thank you, sir, and thank you very much for your service as part of the Canadian Armed Forces. We have many mechanisms of voice as part of our programs and procedures that allow members of the Canadian Armed Forces to voice their concerns no matter what the issue may be—sexual assault, sexual harassment, difficulties with the chain of command, or being uncomfortable with their workplace environment.

National Defence committee  Yes, absolutely. I work with the Chaplain General. At each of our bases and wings we do have a chaplain. Any of our members can go directly to the chaplain. Our Chaplain General does performance measurements. When they feel there is a trend or a tendency, it will be brought to our attention right away.

National Defence committee  Without knowing the specific case, we have learned a lot. We have learned that it's important to educate and to provide the tools to our spouses so they can understand the signs, the impacts, and how a member feels when they're depressed, or they have post-traumatic stress disorder, to allow them to help their loved ones.

National Defence committee  You are correct. As I mentioned during my presentation, I think the level of stigmatization is personal. I lose if I say the following: “I have a mental illness.” That's the level of stigma.

National Defence committee  At demystifying?

National Defence committee  My indicator of success is the number of people who are starting to present, the number of people who are coming forward recognizing that mental illness is not a negative problem; it's something that we can treat and help our members with. As I see more people coming out of the unit lines into my JPSUs, that's an indicator of success.

National Defence committee  When you have a physical illness, you can have a mental illness as well, as you can appreciate, or just a mental illness. In terms of the numbers that return, we don't track what the difference is between physical illness and mental illness. That's really on the medical side, and because of doctor/patient confidentiality, we don't distinguish that.

National Defence committee  From a physical fitness perspective, yes, the standards are lower. That is symptomatic of our demographics—of my boys, who are electronic wizards. We'll make you physically healthy and physically fit. We have warrior platoons at our boot camp to do that. You would be familiar with that, sir, from when you went through boot camp.

National Defence committee  Are you talking about soldiers who leave the Canadian Forces?

National Defence committee  As I said, I think it is important that all our military members have a good understanding of the available services, opportunities and benefits. I feel that part of the stigma is that not all our military members understand what services are available from the medical and health services to help address the actual medical problem of mental illness.

National Defence committee  I think it would be more important to explore the benefits and programs provided by the Canadian Forces.

National Defence committee  Do you want to know whether we have statistics on our members?