Canadian Forces suffer most suicides since tracking began

OTTAWA — There were 16 suicides by Canadian Forces personnel in 2009, the highest annual number since tracking began in 1995.

However, the Department of National Defence emphasized that the suicide rate has been in decline, though marginally, for more than a decade.

The suicide rate for male regular forces — almost all of the suicides are in that category — shows a decline over 15 years. The rate was 18.22 suicides per 100,000 personnel in 2005-09, down from 19.1 in 2000-04 and 19.8 in 1995-99.

National defence updated the suicide figures in a news release this week, saying "the death of even one Canadian Forces member by suicide is one too many." Efforts are underway to strengthen its suicide prevention program, said the department.

The Defence Department also argued the suicide rate is lower in the Canadian Forces than in the overall population because armed forces "are a screened workforce." However, there are no up to date Statistics Canada figures on suicides in the overall population.

Defence experts estimated the military rate is lower, using expectations based on Statistics Canada figures from 2005.

A defence department spokesman said no one was available to comment Friday

Liberal Veterans Affairs critic MP Rob Oliphant said Friday that the figures show only part of the picture.

"We have no numbers on veterans," Oliphant said. "As soon as they come home and are discharged there's no tracking."

He is concerned about hidden numbers of suicides among those who have left active military service and cannot cope.

"I think those deaths should be called casualties of war," Oliphant said in an interview Friday.

Along with retired general and senator, Romeo Dallaire, and some prominent mental health experts, Oliphant is pressing for tracking of suicides among Afghanistan war veterans.

The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois plan to press in coming days for a joint study of veterans' suicide by the House of Commons veterans affair committee and the defence committee.

Zul Merali, president and CEO of the Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research, said at a recent conference that suicides among veterans in the United States exceeded the more than 4,500 U.S. military personnel, including veterans, who have died in combat since the beginning of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There have been 140 Canadian military fatalities in Afghanistan since 2002.