The military has boards of inquiries under way into the 50 deaths, including four from 2008 and seven from 2009.
Seven boards are still underway for suicides in 2010 and 20 for 2011. The 2011 inquiries include the suicide of corporals in Ottawa and Petawawa.
A board of inquiry (BOI) into the suicide of another corporal at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in December is one of 12 now under way for 2012.
The information was recently tabled in the House of Commons after a request by a Liberal MP. The figures indicate that the military has completed 19 BOIs into suicides since 2008.
In an email to the Citizen, the Defence Department noted that BOIs do not have fixed end dates. “The issues under investigation are both important and complex, and it is important that the Canadian Armed Forces take the time necessary to get them right,” the email noted.
A BOI is an internal, non-judicial, administrative fact-finding investigation. They are intended to allow the Chief of the Defence Staff and other members of the chain of command to obtain a better understanding of incidents affecting the functioning of the Canadian Forces, the department added.
But Liberal defence critic John McKay said if the military and government were serious about dealing with suicide they would move faster on such BOIs. “You have to wonder whether they really want to get to the bottom of some of these issues,” he said.
Sheila Fynes, the mother of an Afghan veteran who committed suicide in 2008, said families shouldn’t expect much from BOIs. “In our case it was pretty much a sham,” she said. “There was no challenging whatsoever of contradictory evidence that was presented.”
Her son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, killed himself at CFB Edmonton. He had been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress illness.
“We believe in cases of suicide a Coroner’s Inquest or some other arm’s length process would be more appropriate,” she said.
After years of being stonewalled in their search for answers about the suicide, the family took their concerns and allegations about how the military handled the investigation into Langridge’s death to the Military Police Complaints Commission. The commission’s report on that has not been released but during its hearings into the matter, the commission heard that military police failed to disclose the existence of a suicide note and withheld it from the family for 14 months.
The hearing also heard that senior military officers altered and censored the police report into the suicide, removing potentially damaging references to the Canadian Forces.
On Monday Defence Minister Peter MacKay and defence chief General Tom Lawson recognized Mental Health Week. “Our government recognizes our duty to support those facing mental health challenges and the need to foster an environment that helps to increase awareness, reduce stigma and change behaviours and attitudes about mental health,” MacKay said in a statement.
But some of the suicides are raising questions about the type of help soldiers are receiving from the Canadian Forces to deal with mental illness. Last week the Citizen reported on the death of Master Corporal Charles Matiru, who killed himself in January. Matiru had initially done two tours in Afghanistan and had been hospitalized in 2006 after he started hallucinating about the war. After his hospitalization he was sent back to Afghanistan where he completed two more tours.
Matiru’s family says the soldier didn’t receive the support he needed from the military to deal with his post traumatic stress disorder. There was a reluctance in the Canadian Forces to help the master corporal and when the military system did grant approval for treatment, there were delays in receiving that, the family says.
The Canadian Forces did not comment on the case of Master Corporal Matiru or the concerns raised by his family. But it issued an email stating that mental health care is a priority for the military and government and highlight the work done by MacKay in this area.
In the email sent Thursday, DND noted that it has also established a medical professional/technical suicide review process that investigates, reports, and makes recommendations for each suicide.
The Defence Department stated that an expert panel determined that the Canadian Forces has a strong suicide prevention program.
But Fynes said such statements are ridiculous. “There are large numbers of soldiers who are suffering out there with mental health issues but from what I’ve seen the military has learned very little over the years,” she said.
Original Article
Source: ottawacitizen.com
Author: DAVID PUGLIESE
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