Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for your question, ma'am, and for putting it in the context of the research. That helps me answer it. One interesting thing about going through the performance as many times as we did is that, even with someone as experienced as Dr. Marvin Westwood, who has been working with veterans for a long time, we were still constantly learning.

Veterans Affairs committee  Please let me know if I misunderstood the question, but the first part was on the idea of hypermasculinity and how that impacts veterans in transition and their service. As I mentioned, one of the things we noticed was that the more strongly a person adopts an unrealistic idea of hypermasculinity, the more rigid their belief system becomes and the greater the barriers to accessing help they create in front of themselves.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's a very good question, actually, and it's hard to answer because I didn't create it. However, my initial personal goal in the play was to better understand our veteran community myself. As a very junior member in the military at the time, I wanted to deepen my understanding and know what I was signing up for.

Veterans Affairs committee  It was absolutely the right choice. I strongly believe having more GPs in the military is important, as well as medical officers. My next career move, hopefully, is to be an MO in the CAF. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, which is why I can't answer questions as the OC. If I do, I'll lose my job.

Veterans Affairs committee  The message that was harder to get through with this play was something called “invisible wounds” or “moral injuries”. There are some injuries that CAF members experience that no one can see on the surface. It's horrible to hear stories of people who have lost a leg or lost a life, but there are many other types of injuries that are invisible and no one can see.

Veterans Affairs committee  I actually did it at the same time. I was engaged in my master's and military service simultaneously.

Veterans Affairs committee  It focused on PTSD and trauma and how they impact transition from military to civilian life.

Veterans Affairs committee  Something that emerged from our work and in similar comments from witnesses was having someone like a paraprofessional walk you through the steps of transition, someone consistent who will guide you through that transition, whether it's to access resources through VAC or any other organization.

Veterans Affairs committee  I can't take credit for developing the script. That was done by Dr. Marvin Westwood and Dr. George Belliveau, who were my supervisors through the program. They collaborated. Counselling psychology and research theatre collaborated to come up with the script. Another key writer was Dr.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely. I still put it to good use today.

Veterans Affairs committee  It's not currently going on. It started in 2015 and ended in 2018, with various different versions being created. It has been performed almost 20 times and is approaching 2,000 physical audience members.

Veterans Affairs committee  That's correct. In the audience, there were both veteran and non-veteran witnesses who came and enjoyed the theatre piece. We performed for a lot of educators in the U.K. and Australia and even here in Ottawa. One unique thing about the play—and I'm not sure about the play you're mentioning—is that the performers themselves were also veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think there are two parts to your question. The participants absolutely said they benefited from participating in the play. It was another way to be witnessed by the Canadian public. When you feel witnessed, heard and understood, the research on mental health, PTSD and trauma would suggest you're better able to process things.

Veterans Affairs committee  Absolutely. The play didn't necessarily directly seek to answer questions so much as solicit information and stories from its participants and anyone who witnessed it. What we focused on was the idea of how a veteran must drop or change an identity when leaving their role as a CAF member and transitioning to being a civilian.

Veterans Affairs committee  From the research and from what we noticed as part of feedback from participants, audience members and other collaborators, we felt that what might be most helpful is treating families with the same benefits and resources the veterans receive. In a lot of the stories that emerge, the family often bears their own form of trauma, which they live through with their service family member.