National Defence committee  Thank you. I would like to begin by thanking the committee for inviting me to testify this afternoon on the issue of health care services to Canadian Forces personnel, and in particular issues surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here

Official Languages committee  As Mr. Côté and myself have already stated, new military recruits should be able to obtain their training in the language of their choice.

Official Languages committee  It is really up to the Department of National Defence to decide how...

Official Languages committee  Yes, and we are recommending that recruits be able to receive their training in the language of their choice.

Official Languages committee  That course should be available for francophones as well.

Official Languages committee  I do not know. That is the first time I have heard about this. I don't know if they teach it in French also, but they should. Everybody should have the right to receive instruction in--

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  Thank you.

Official Languages committee  Yes.

Official Languages committee  I cannot answer that question. That involves military command.

Official Languages committee  I don't know if we could solve the problem by moving teachers.

Official Languages committee  The courses offered at Saint-Jean are not the same as those offered at Borden.

Official Languages committee  At Borden, they certainly have an influx of nouveaux militaires, and the department has to deal with this. There is new money, it is my understanding, to go towards Borden. They just have to make sure things are translated, that there are services available. It's very important

Official Languages committee  That is a good question. During our second visit to Borden, we surveyed new military members and we interviewed the chain of command. We noticed that services were available in both languages.

Official Languages committee  We received complaints from Saint-Jean telling us that they are experiencing the same problem as in Borden. We then sent a team of investigators to Saint-Jean to look into the situation. We noted that it was difficult to obtain services in both languages, as in Borden. The proble