National Defence committee  Well, because the doctor, who was a woman, was the one who wouldn't sign my papers when she knew that it would end my career, I don't think it would really help if there were more women, but as far as different cultures and different backgrounds go, very possibly. I would hope so

National Defence committee  Absolutely. That is a very good point, because you may have noticed in my story that it was mostly women who I went to for help and I didn't get it. When I walked into the cafeteria at CFB Esquimalt, I noticed something, which was that you don't see five women sitting together h

National Defence committee  It's possible, but I don't know. I can tell you that I couldn't find any women mentors, though. As a former athlete, I always look for women mentors, and male mentors too—any gender—but particularly, for some reason, if there's a woman I look up to, she's a role model. I was in t

National Defence committee  It's just speculation, but I would hope so, and I would certainly think so.

National Defence committee  I would have liked to see the navy have a schedule that works better for parents, as the Coast Guard has, something such as three months on and three months off. That is something I can do. I can fly my son back and forth with that. The way the navy works, you sail for one day a

National Defence committee  Do you mean to be part of the change in respecting women more?

National Defence committee  I think there is a loss of focus on the family and children are a problem to people in the military. I think that's unfair. There was a lot of grumbling on the ships about parents because they got to leave an hour early to go get their kids from school or whatever. You have peopl

National Defence committee  No. I even went to the padre at one point and said, “Hey, I don't want to live anymore; I don't know who else to go to.” The padre sort of said, “Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.” I asked her if there was anything she could do, and the answer was basically no. The mental health u

National Defence committee  Hi, everyone. It's quite an honour to see some faces that I know from TV. Thanks for having me here. I really appreciate it. As a bit of background on me, I am an ex-professional athlete. I was on Team Canada three times, and I graduated from the University of Victoria. I was a