Canada is in desperate need of more military recruits. Even with expanded equipment purchases and the buildup of the Canadian defence industrial base, military strength requires people, and right now, the Canadian Armed Forces doesn’t have enough. The government of Canada notes that the CAF is currently 16,500 personnel short of its authorized strength.
While increased recruitment depends in large part on increased military spending and effective public relations campaigns, it is also essential for prospective CAF members to feel that they and their families will be well taken care of.
Mental health is a key part of this. When a Canadian veteran goes through mental health challenges as a result of their military service, it doesn’t only impact them; it impacts their family. In some cases, those impacts continue even after a veteran is no longer receiving treatment, but mental health supports for families of veterans are tied to the veteran. For example, when a veteran commits suicide, mental health support for that veteran’s family members ceases.
Now, a group of Canadians are seeking to change that.
Petition e-6654 was initiated by Samara Symonds, and put forth in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Blake Richards.
The petition reads as follows:
Whereas:
- Veterans Affairs pays for consistent mental health treatment for veterans who live with a service-related mental health condition;
- Veterans Affairs may authorize consistent therapy sessions with a registered mental health professional of their choice for veterans’ family members engaged in caregiving for the veteran if recommended by a registered mental health professional treating the veteran;
- Families and caregivers of veterans are deeply affected by the burden of the veterans’ service, particularly when the veteran has service-related mental health conditions and loses their battle with their injury resulting in suicide;
- Family members receiving government funded therapy as described above currently lose this funded therapy when the veteran is no longer living. This can interrupt a therapeutic relationship when the patient is most vulnerable and in greatest need; and
- In 2021, the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman released a report entitled “Mental Health Treatment Benefits for Family Members, in Their Own Right, for Conditions Related to Military Service” that recommended government-funded mental health treatment to family members of veterans when their mental health condition is related to military service, regardless of the veteran’s own treatment needs.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to act on the recommendations from the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman’s report “Mental Health Treatment Benefits for Family Members, in Their Own Right, for Conditions Related to Military Service”, particularly the government-funded health treatment for family members of veterans when their mental health condition is related to the veterans’ service.
The government would be wise to implement the changes called for in petition e-6654. Those who serve our nation put their lives on the line and risk physical and mental injuries that require long-term support. Their families also take on significant challenges, challenges that can endure for some time. Expanding mental health support for the families of veterans is both the right thing to do from a moral perspective, but also an important part of expanding recruitment.
Rebuilding the CAF and expanding it to a level sufficient to ensure a strong national defence requires a holistic approach. We need higher salaries, better equipment, stronger domestic production, defence-production cooperation with allies, efficient public relations campaigns, and buy-in from potential military families. Leaving one part out undermines the rest.
Spencer Fernando
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