National Defence committee  That's a fair question. It's not really a competitive space. We are, I guess, in a sense competing with other charities, whether they be charities related to this issue or even the Cancer Society. The Canadian public has only so many dollars to spend on charitable endeavours. In a sense, our charity is closer to the soldier.

National Defence committee  The dog program in particular has been an interesting one. We've been working with it perhaps a little bit longer than the horse program. The feedback has overall been very positive. Dogs are amazing animals and they provide confidence to an individual, along with their treatment.

National Defence committee  As you indicated, Landstuhl, Germany, was the start, with a single soldier being severely injured. Padre Ralph and Captain Johnston went to visit, and over an evening came up with the idea of the Wounded Warriors fund. We have evolved. Our rapid expansion has happened probably in the last year or year and a half, where we've seen a ramp-up of third-party fundraising events, a very large number of them producing substantial dollar amounts.

National Defence committee  That's correct.

National Defence committee  Why is that?

National Defence committee  I don't think there's—

National Defence committee  Sir, with all due respect, the one thing about Canada is that we are a great country and great people. As the treasurer and CFO of this charity, and in my ongoing activities with various charities, I've never seen anything like this in my life where Canadians from all walks of life are donating to support—

National Defence committee  They want to help.

National Defence committee  In terms of Wounded Warriors, I can't speak for other charities and their mandates, but our mandate is focused primarily on the mental health issues that exist. That's mainly because.... In fairness, the CF have done a very good job with the physically injured. One thing about mental health issues is that unfortunately they have a much longer life cycle in terms of the needs and can manifest themselves in a number of different ways and over a longer period of time.

National Defence committee  I will defer that question to our program director and padre for more specifics.

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on behalf of Wounded Warriors Canada, we are truly honoured to be invited to appear before this committee and to be part of a very important discussion on the care of ill and injured Canadian Forces members. By way of introduction, my name is Derrick Gleed, and I am the vice-chair and CFO of our board of directors.