Canadian Veterans Advocacy

Sunday, November 9, 2014

New announcement: Canadian military claim that its suicide rates are lower is not true, says expert

Canadian military claim that its suicide rates are lower is not true, says expert

Suicide among serving Canadian military and veterans is at epidemic proportions and the leading cause of death in the armed forces, an internationally renowned "suicidologist" told a coalition of veterans in Ottawa.

More from the report by my Ottawa Citizen colleague Chris Cobb:

Dr. Antoon Leenaars, a Canadian psychologist, dismissed the often-repeated claim by Canada's military and political leaders that suicide rates in the military are lower than in the general population.

"I don't think that's true," he told the Citizen after his speech. "It seems to me it's whitewashing. People believe what they prefer to be true — the military believes what they prefer to be true.

"There is no question that it is at epidemic proportions," he added. "Why would there be so many soldiers in the U.S. dying by suicide and not in Canada? (The Canadian military's) answer is that it's because of excellent care and excellent leadership but are the Americans so poor that they are not providing adequate care and leadership?"

Full article here:

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/military-suicides-an-epidemic-says-canadian-expert


Source: Canadian military claim that its suicide rates are lower is not true, says expert

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You can view the full announcement by following this link:
http://canadianveteransadvocacy.com/Board2/index.php?topic=14697.0

Regards,
The Canadian Veterans Advocacy Team.

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