Connie Cody, Cambridge
Linked statement
“Two years ago, women veterans bravely told a committee about the sexual trauma they suffered in the military. They gave us a plan to fix these problems. Canada has still not kept its promise to help them, and we must do better.”
“Mr. Speaker, two years ago, the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs unanimously tabled a pivotal report, “Invisible No More. The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans”. That title means something only because more than 50 women made it true. They sat before committee and relived military sexual trauma, wounds inflicted, at times by the very people who were supposed to stand beside them. They knew the cost, but they spoke anyway for every woman who has not served yet and deserves better. Angel, a veteran and survivor of military sexual trauma, did not testify, but she recognized herself in every word those women spoke. She wore the country’s uniform with pride, yet something happened in that uniform, done by someone who should have had her back. Those women kept their promise to Canada, but two years later, Canada is still working on keeping its promise to them. To the women veterans with us today and to those watching from home, this was not a plea for sympathy; it was a blueprint. They do not owe us anything more. We owe them so they will be invisible no more and not ignored again.”
Mr. Speaker, two years ago, the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs unanimously tabled a pivotal report, “Invisible No More. The Experiences of Canadian Women Veterans”. That title means something only because more than 50 women made it true. They sat before committee and relived military sexual trauma, wounds inflicted, at times by the very people who were supposed to stand beside them. They knew the cost, but they spoke anyway for every woman who has not served yet and deserves better. Angel, a veteran and survivor of military sexual trauma, did not testify, but she recognized herself in every word those women spoke. She wore the country’s uniform with pride, yet something happened in that uniform, done by someone who should have had her back. Those women kept their promise to Canada, but two years later, Canada is still working on keeping its promise to them. To the women veterans with us today and to those watching from home, this was not a plea for sympathy; it was a blueprint. They do not owe us anything more. We owe them so they will be invisible no more and not ignored again.