Mental health in the Canadian military: Feds to spend $200M over 6 years
[ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mental- ... 46166?cid= ]
128 regular forces and 32 reservists have committed suicide in the past decade
CBC News Posted: Nov 23, 2014 8:14 AM ET| Last Updated: Nov 23, 2014 10:21 AM ET
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QUOTE: "'Is this not just a response to adverse press or is this a legitimate attempt to reach out and fix things? I think it's half and half. I think this government's in damage control.'" — Michael Blais, Canadian Veterans Advocacy
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The federal government will provide $200 million over six years to address mental health issues among members of the Canadian Forces.
"More must be done to combat mental illness in support of the Canadian Forces," Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said during a news conference at the International Security Forum in Halifax on Sunday morning.
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces also announced Sunday that an additional $16.7 million in ongoing funds will be available to support members of the Forces, veterans and their families.
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Soldiers worry about mental-health stigma
The announcement comes just two days before the Auditor General is expected to release a report on mental health in the Forces.
Statistics from the military show that 128 members of the regular forces and 32 reservists have committed suicide in the past decade.
A Statistics Canada survey released earlier this year suggests nearly one in six full-time members of the Canadian Forces experienced symptoms of mental health or alcohol-related disorders over several months in 2013.
The same survey shows that one-third of Canadian soldiers worry that seeking mental health services would harm their career.
The survey was developed by Statistics Canada with the Department of National Defence. About 6,700 regular force members and 1,500 reservists were interviewed from April to August in 2013.
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'Toxic' relationship
The announcement also comes just days after veterans learned that the federal department responsible for their care and benefits was unable to spend upwards of $1.1 billion of its budget over seven years.
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson said the funding will better harness technology and research when dealing with mental health issues in the military. (Chris Wattie/Reuters)
Like other departments unable to spend their appropriation within the budget year, Veterans Affairs was required to return its unspent funds to the treasury.
The Royal Canadian Legion wrote Fantino on Thursday, demanding a detailed accounting of which programs had lapsed funding and why.
The figures put before Parliament show the veterans department handed back a relatively small percentage of its budget in 2005-06, but shortly after the Conservatives were elected the figure spiked to 8.2 per cent of allocation.
Michael Blais, president and founder of the non-profit group Canadian Veterans Advocacy, said the relationship between Fantino and veterans is "toxic."
Blais said he welcomes the $200 million but doubts it will be enough for what's being promised.
"We're all on the same page when we want to have comprehensive care for our young men and women who have sustained mental wounds," he told CBC News Network.
"Is it enough? Is it real? Is this not just a response to adverse press or is this a legitimate attempt to reach out and fix things? I think it's half and half. I think this government's in damage control."
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Veterans Affairs Canada Has Returned $1.1 Billion Of Unspent Funds Since 2006
[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/19 ... a+Politics ]
CP | By Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press Updated: 11/21/2014 8:12 pm EST
EXCERPT:
Beyond veterans, long considered a natural constituency for Conservatives, there are signs the Tories are in trouble with ordinary Canadians on the issue. A newly released internal poll on public perceptions of the Canadian Forces suggests the treatment of veterans was registering strongly with respondents.
"Problems that veterans face (42 per cent) and soldiers returning home (29 per cent) were top of mind for many Canadians when asked what they recalled about the (Canadian Armed Forces)," said the Phoneix Strategies Perspectives survey, conducted last May, but released by National Defence online this week.
The survey of 2,025 people found more than two-thirds (67 per cent) of those asked recalled recently seeing, reading, or hearing about issues faced by returning soldiers or their families.
That's a significant increase over 48 per cent of respondents to a similar poll conducted in 2012.
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158 - number of Canadian soldiers that the Liberals and Tories sent to die in Afghanistan
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_F ... fghanistan ]
160 - number of Canadian soldiers who committed suicide from 2004 to 2014
[ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014 ... ombat.html ]