‘We are not files, we are people,’ veteran tells town hall

Thai, a service dog belonging to former Canadian navy captain Medric Couisineau, settles down during a town hall meeting on support for military personnel and veterans at the Dartmouth Sportsplex on Monday. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

MICHAEL GORMAN PROVINCIAL REPORTER 

Roger Pothier has four poppies tattooed on his right arm to mark the military comrades he’s lost to suicide.

A 25-year military veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, Pothier was one of about 150 people — many of them vets or family members of vets — who gathered Tuesday night at a Dartmouth Sportsplex community room to discuss the challenges military personnel, their families and veterans face as they try to access support services.

Pothier, who did deployments to Somalia, Cyprus, Europe and Southwest Asia in support of the Afghanistan mission, said he was inspired to speak out after hearing so many stories about people struggling. He said he felt a lack of support when he left the military in 2008, as well as at various points during his service career.

He’s not the only one.

A number of people talked about their own struggles and what can be done to try to change things.

Dennis Manuge, the veteran who led the class-action lawsuit to claim clawed-back benefits from the federal government, was part of a panel that talked to attendees about concerns and available services.

Manuge said the Veterans Affairs Department was already understaffed, due to previous staffing reductions, before the most recent office closures. Things have gone from bad to worse, he said.

“They’re not ready or able to be cut back (further).”

Carl Gannon, who represents the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said staff are feeling overstressed and concerned about their ability to meet the needs of veterans in the face of reduced staffing and the closure of Veterans Affairs support offices.

The Sydney office that closed handled 4,200 files, Gannon said.

“These are real people and they’re not being treated as real people.”

A serviceman who identified himself only as Ralph said there remains a stigma around mental health issues.

He said he is dealing with post-traumatic stress and was encouraged not to come around his fellow soldiers because he made people nervous.

“I’m not crazy; I’m sick,” he said to loud applause.

A number of people noted that veterans, those serving today and their families make up a large group that carries a lot of weight, something that should be remembered as a federal election nears.

“We are not files, we are people,” one veteran said. “More importantly, we are votes.”

Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Robert Chisholm, who organized the meeting, said he hears of “too many cases of people not receiving … the kind of services they deserve.”

The New Democrat said the meeting was a chance for people to come together and hear about their options for support and possible action.

A petition was circulated that called on Ottawa to reverse the recent closure of support offices, hire “appropriate mental health professionals” and address military suicides.

Chisholm said the Defence Department and Veterans Affairs declined invitations to send representatives to the meeting.