Local MP Todd Doherty was on the agenda in Parliament on Thursday.
The opposition member for Cariboo-Prince George tabled a Private Member's Bill that "seeks to put in place a national framework on post-traumatic stress disorder," he said. "Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to listen firsthand to the heartbreaking and heroic stories shared with me by first responders, firefighters, military personnel, corrections officers and members of the RCMP."
Doherty referenced a study by the University of British Columbia that found that emergency personnel experience post-traumatic stress at twice the rate of the average population. In Canada, it is estimated that up to 10 per cent of war zone veterans will go on to experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It is my sincere hope that through the development of a national framework, the brave men and women who are our silent sentinels know that they are not alone," he said. "These individuals fight to protect our nation on a daily basis, and I would like them to know that there is someone fighting for you."
The proposed legislation is entitled Bill C-211. It was introduced and given first reading during the 11th sitting of the first session of the 41st Parliament in Ottawa.
"This enactment requires the Minister of Health to convene a conference with the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, provincial and territorial government representatives responsible for health and representatives of the medical community and patients' groups for the purpose of developing a comprehensive federal framework to address the challenges of recognizing the symptoms and providing timely diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder," said the bill's summary.
It calls for a report on the specified framework to be crafted by government within 18 months of the bill becoming law. The bill must now be scheduled for second reading, on the path to becoming official legislation.
Doherty's proposed legislation came to the floor of the House of Commons only a day after a similar discussion was held next door in the Senate. The Honorable Daniel Lang introduced a notice of motion that would establish a committee "to study the medical, social and operational impacts" of the full spectrum of mental health issues on those who are or have served in the military/RCMP. He specified PTSD and operational stress injuries (OISs) in the intended scope of the research.
The committee, said Lang, should also examine current services and benefits available to those personnel for those issues, specify best practices for obtaining those services, examine new and emerging treatments and technologies, and that this work be done in time for discussion during the second session of the 41st Parliamentary sitting, and set the report deadline for no later than Dec. 31, 2017.
