Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly, Mr. Chair. Allow me to say that the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence are totally committed to supporting our troops, not only because it is an obligation of leadership but also because it is one of our moral obligations. This has to do with

Veterans Affairs committee  Certainly, madam. By the way, thank you for being the mom of one soldier, or maybe—

Veterans Affairs committee  You are the mom of two soldiers. Thank you. I didn't say that our effort toward mental health is done, not at all. We are active, absolutely, and we understand that it's not there yet. What you're referring to in terms of the military college is something I've been personally ve

Veterans Affairs committee  I will answer that, sir, but I do not have all the details. You are asking a very specific question. The example you used was of a leg injury sustained in Kandahar. In all honesty, I cannot imagine that there can even be any confusion about a case like that. As you just said, th

Veterans Affairs committee  I cannot answer that specific question, sir. I do not know what the medical document contains. Clearly, that information is protected by the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. I do not know.

Veterans Affairs committee  The surgeon general's organization does exactly that. It determines the medical reason for release. It determines whether or not a member needs to be released for medical reasons and why. That's already being done by the surgeon general.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. In the medical files that we have, there is always third party information. When we send it to VAC, Access to Information and Privacy tells us that we need to make sure we give them information on the person, on the veteran, and not on anybody else. We have to go through it

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, sir, absolutely, and thank you for your question on this matter. The issue of mental health, and certainly the stigma within the Canadian Armed Forces, is absolutely recognized, and from the top. Obviously, I am referring to General Jonathan Vance, our Chief of the Defence

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for that. Absolutely, and it's very recognized. Part of understanding the problem and talking about it is getting our soldiers to realize that a lot of soldiers are serving today with PTSD, and there's no issue about it. They're medicated and they're getting the help

Veterans Affairs committee  My question to the CO of the JPSU is always the same—after we deal with the issue, obviously—“Why? Why did this happen?” We always discuss that, because what you just mentioned here is certainly my concern and my boss's concern. Making a mistake once is okay, but you can't do it

Veterans Affairs committee  No, sir. Unless.... Captain Langlois, do you have something to add on that?

Veterans Affairs committee  No, we don't.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said, we don't publish them, but we will look into what we have discovered in the last few months, for example. Would that satisfy you, sir?

Veterans Affairs committee  I'll start, and I'll also ask Captain Langlois to add to it. Just so you know, from my perspective—and Captain Langlois will talk more about the tactical level where it's happening—I will tell you that if I don't get a phone call two or three times a week from Veterans Affairs—a

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, and that's one of the efforts we're going towards, and it's how we identify our veterans. I'm sure you may have heard of this issue of the ID card for veterans. We're on top of that at VAC to make sure we produce it in the next few months so that they will have something th