E-MAIL TO REX MURPHY

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Mr. Rex Murphy,

The Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence are letting it's soldiers down. The only soldier who is able to stop this is General Rick Hillier, but he seems to be so upset with the bureaucracy that our politicians have placed on our soldiers that even he has decided to leave to military, all of this at a time when the Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence went selling a Recruiting campaign by telling Canadians of the money being spent on new toys and the need for more soldiers.

Yet, our soldiers are being neglected medically by our very own Canadian Forces Health Services Group. As confirmed in a letter from the Minister of Veterans Affairs dated 23 May 2008 which states "on April 1, 2006, the Department of National Defence made the decision not to provide Veterans Affairs Canada with additional medical reports and opinions in support of the disability benefits program." This is basically saying that if a soldier becomes injured, the CF Health Services Group will not help the soldier with their compensation claim. However, they do go through a great deal of paperwork to provide SISIP Disability Insurance (operated through Manulife) and Canada Pension Plan applications for those soldiers so medically unfit to work. Why can't they do this for Veterans Affairs as well?

This is only the tip of the iceburg. On 3 June 2008, I went to the Mental Health Services to see if my appointment with the psychiatrist could be moved up. I had been waiting for 5 weeks already, even though my Doctor, my Psychologist, and a Social Worker were very concerned with the tendancies that I had started to show that included shouting and swearing on the staff at Veterans Affairs and firing my first doctor for refusing to help me when I had pains in my chest and with my compensation claim with DVA. I had been having "out of body" experiences and was finding it very difficult to control my anger. I had been dreaming very vivid dreams that all seemed to involve hurting people and it was starting to consume me. Couple this with having to wait more than a month to get my release paperwork signed and now having to wait another month to get an appointment just to start planning my retirement move, I lost it. It should be noted that the office where that happened was the same office that I was sexually assaulted two times and had complained of harassment, nothing of which was done about it except to promote the harasser/sexual assaulter.

I immediately went to Mental Health services. While asking the secretary for an earlier appointment to see my psychiatrist, I was informed that there was an opening on 4 June but I couldn't have it because it was only one hour long and I needed to have a 2.5 hour appointment. I told the secretary that I was having a lot of touble and was very angry with our administrative staff for their uncaring attitude and inability to get me an appointment or find my paperwork, which they had lost 3 times already.

I blew up. Watching myself rant and rave at the secretary, I had to force myself to leave which was very difficult. The next thing I remember was sitting at Tim Horton's drinking a coffee. I don't know how I got there.

Is this the reason or conditions that may have caused that man in Calgary to murdered his family because of a lack of judgement on the staff members at his psychiatrist office?

It took three weeks to even set up an appointment with my psychiatrist, even after being considered a "Rush" by my doctor. Then the appointment that was booked was for 4 weeks down the road. It's a good thing that it was a "rush".

Our soldiers need help. I need your help.