The House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs met on November 27, 2025, for its 15th meeting on the study of suicide prevention among veterans. Appearing as witnesses were Dr. Denise M. Brend, assistant professor at Université Laval, Stephen La Salle, Chloé Deraiche and Bruno Plourde of The Trail – Transition Housing Inc., and Constable Aaron Dale of the Toronto Police Service.
Dr. Denise M. Brend, a social worker and psychotherapist, testified that trauma affects individuals, their families, and communities, and that institutional betrayal—when organizations fail to protect people or place priorities over well-being—exacerbates trauma. She argued that resilience depends more on context and support than on individual capacity, and that trauma-informed approaches, which evaluate entire service networks, reduce both trauma and distress. She recommended co-developing non-pathologizing opportunities with veterans to build pride, trust, and belonging, and praised Veterans Affairs for showing institutional courage.
Stephen La Salle, a former reservist who served 12 years, described how a training injury led to complex regional pain syndrome, a below-the-knee amputation, and a diagnosis of complex PTSD. He stated that navigating Veterans Affairs Canada was his greatest challenge, citing bureaucratic delays and denials that compounded his mental health struggles, including an invalidated approved condition and a two-year wait for a bathroom modification. He urged the committee to recognize that every delay and denial can break a veteran’s spirit and increase suicide risk, and recommended simplifying processes to treat veterans as people rather than file numbers.
Chloé Deraiche, executive director of The Trail – Transition Housing Inc., said her organization provides housing and assistance to veterans transitioning to civilian life, often at their most vulnerable. She noted that the suicide rate among veterans has not decreased in nearly 40 years due to systemic problems, including no follow-up after release and a military culture that discourages asking for help. She recommended mandatory and systematic follow-up after service, fluid mechanisms for institutions and community organizations to work together, and less bureaucracy, emphasizing that veterans should not have to beg for benefits.
Bruno Plourde, founder and administrator of The Trail, stated that veterans become social orphans upon release, losing access to doctors and support resources, and that there is no mechanism to transfer medical records between the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Canada. He argued that prevention through local teamwork and in-person listening services is the only effective way to reduce suicidal ideation, and recommended providing veterans with dedicated doctors who understand the system, rather than more funding. He disagreed with the idea that prevention cannot be measured, suggesting that tracking how many at-risk veterans remain alive is a valid metric.
Constable Aaron Dale, program coordinator of the Military Veterans Wellness Program at the Toronto Police Service, described a community policing initiative that trains first responders to identify, de-escalate, and refer veterans in crisis to existing services like VAC and the Legion. He reported that the program has trained 22,000 first responders across 150 agencies and successfully referred approximately 250 veterans. He recommended that the government ensure all first responders receive this training, that the 988 suicide line include a veteran-only option, and that federal support adapt the program for all health care providers, noting that a certified curriculum could be created for about $400,000.
Following the testimony, the committee debated whether to cancel a scheduled meeting with additional witnesses. Some members argued that hearing more testimony was unnecessary and that the committee should move to drafting a report, while others insisted that cancelling already-booked witnesses, particularly veterans with traumatic experiences, would be disrespectful and could cause further harm. The committee agreed to a compromise: the next meeting will be a one-hour block to hear from the scheduled witnesses, followed by a single round of questions, and the remainder of that meeting will be used for drafting instructions for the report.
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