As Chris Dupee looks at a plaque, presented to him following his 2008 tour in Afghanistan, there is a moment of pride on his face.
“It was an amazing experience what can I say,†said Dupee. There are paintings of military scenes, soldiers with poppies and the odd photo or badge in this space, but not as much military regalia as one might expect.
“Being in the military it does become a life defining experience, but having it a life defining experience isn’t healthy, we need to recognize that’s just a small part of who we are “ he said.
While he is proud and says there are no regrets, the 10-year military career led Dupee down of a path of struggle with mental illness.
“You get pressed into mental levels that you never thought you would have to go,†Dupee recounted.
Dupee was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder upon returning from deployment, eventually leading to his release from the military.
“It’s a mirror right, we gotta look into it and we have to recognize what we see as ours. Okay I have PTSD… now what?†said Dupee.
Its something he confronts openly in very candid conversations, ones that he is now able to have years later. Struggling to find the right supports that suited his style and needs, Dupee realised a way of helping himself was to help others. That led to the creation of ‘Cadence,’ a mental health treatment centre for veterans and first responders that he co-founded in Newmarket, Ont. The centre has a few bedrooms to offer second-stage sober living treatment programs, a gym and common spaces. Staff members are on hand for different levels and types of therapy for inpatient and day clients.
The focus here is on conversation and community, building a comfortable environment designed by a veteran in order to help serve other veterans and first responders, with a focus on front line trauma.
“I’ve gone through my own journey of hell and I’d like to think I’ve come out of it. For me it’s painful to see other people going through it, so I try to be the voice for people that I wish I heard… that someone said to me when I was going through it.†Said Dupee, standing in front of a chalkboard wall in the reception area. The wall boasts inspirational quotes from former clients, people who have walked this path of recovery helping to guide those who will follow.
Trauma and grief are commons themes for those on a shared journey of pain and recovery.
Ward speaks openly about his emotions, what led to his suicide attempt and the recovery that followed. (Source: Heather Butts)David Ward is one of them -- he sits quietly in a room playing a guitar before speaking with us. Ward served 19 years in the Canadian Forces including two tours in Afghanistan. He left the military on his own terms.
“I tried to move on with my life my way and I ended up falling into a deep rut and I attempted suicide with a firearm," said Ward, now bearing the physical scars of his mental illness. He speaks openly about his emotions, what led to his suicide attempt and the recovery that followed.
Ward served 19 years in the Canadian Forces including two tours in Afghanistan. (Source: David Ward)
“I realized that the moment I felt that bullet go through my forehead was… I was looking at the world wrong, I had it wrong. It allowed me to open my eyes in a different view because at that point in time I had lost hope.†said Ward.
That was in 2021, Ward had watched as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan leading to the fall of Kabul, then lost a friend to suicide, and in December of 2021, attempted it himself.
In the last two years, Ward has focused on resuming his physical fitness while working on his mental health. That includes a portion of time at Cadence, where he found strength in working with therapists along side other veterans.
In the last two years, Ward has focused on resuming his physical fitness while working on his mental health. (Source: David Ward)
“I don’t want people to follow the same footsteps. There are veterans and first responders who are succumbing to their mental health and depression and substance abuse and its’ killing them,†said Ward.
“I’m hoping that with my openness and my struggles and being open with that, hopefully people can relate and not go down the same path, the dark path that so many of us do.â€
Sitting with staff in the common room, it's evident that in this space, it is about a community helping each other through shared conversations.
“It starts with I believe in acknowledgement of what you’re going through, you really gotta see that, talking helps you get to that point, whether its with a therapist or best friend, mother, whoever it is,†said Dupee, who admits managing mental health is a lifelong journey, one he believes should not be done alone.
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Lebanon's Hezbollah was still handing its members new Gold Apollo branded pagers hours before thousands blew up this week, two security sources said, indicating the group was confident the devices were safe despite an ongoing sweep of electronic kit to identify threats.
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The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
For most people, dinner on a cruise ship is a time to relax. But when influencer couple Abby and Matt Howard decided to kick back with a dinner à deux, they ended up kicking up a storm.
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating the death of a woman who was shot by the RCMP after allegedly barricading herself in a room with a toddler early Thursday morning.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
The 'Namgis First Nation says a fish farm it owns near Port McNeill shows the potential of land-based aquaculture in B.C.
For the last seven-and-half months, Toronto resident Heather McArthur has been living out what she describes as her 'worst nightmare.' On Feb. 7, her then three-year-old son Jacob along with his father Loc Phu 'Jay' Le departed for what was supposed to be a week-long visit to Vietnam to celebrate the Lunar New Year with family, McArthur says.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
In the middle of the small crowd — near the tents, the lineup of kids awaiting face painting, the snack table — stood a jubilant Chiara Padovani. 'When I say 'tenant, you say 'power,'' she commanded to several dozen tenants, who chanted back with gusto. What looked like a summer block party in front of two north-end Toronto apartment buildings last month was a celebration of what renters who withheld payments for months called a 'huge victory.'
Defence counsel for accused murderer John-Christopher Arrizza argues he was in an “altered state of mind†due to days of drug and alcohol use, sleep deprivation and not eating, when he fatally stabbed a man at a Banff nightclub in 2022.
The Parole Board of Canada says a man who assaulted a young pregnant woman and left her for dead remains too dangerous to be released into the community.
Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.
A man has been taken to hospital in life-threatening condition following a stabbing incident that happened on Baseline Road in the early hours of Friday morning, according to the Ottawa Paramedic Service.
Police say a man who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.
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The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Premier François Legault's approval rating continued to rise this summer, according to the Angus Reid Institute. After reaching a low at the end of 2023, his support rose by three percentage points over the summer to 39 per cent.
A harrowing video has been presented to a jury at the trial of three men facing first-degree murder charges.
Five bison are dead at Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton following an early Thursday morning collision.
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The mayor of Fort Saskatchewan apologized on Thursday for comments she made earlier this week about killing feral cats.
Gas prices increased in all three Maritime provinces for the first time in more than a month.
A section of Herring Cove Road in the Spryfield area of Halifax is closed to traffic in both directions following a single-vehicle collision Friday morning.
Police are asking people to avoid the Dartmouth Commons area in Dartmouth, N.S., as they assist with a wildlife call for a bear.
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Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has confirmed a tornado touched down Wednesday evening near Langbank, Sask.
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Thomas Hamp says he believed secret police were out to kidnap, torture, and kill him when he fatally stabbed his girlfriend Emily Sanche in February of 2022.
A social media post of purple apples “growing†in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention. However, garden experts say there's no such thing.
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An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
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Three northern Ontario residents are charged with drug trafficking after the vehicle they were in got stuck along a bush road off Highway 17 on Monday.
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Jim Lester’s farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
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A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped Treasury Board President Anita Anand to take on additional duties as Canada's minister of transport on Thursday.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got into a heated exchange in the House of Commons on Thursday, just minutes after Singh announced his party would not be supporting the Conservatives' first non-confidence motion against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
The head of Via Rail repeatedly told MPs a train delay over the Labour Day long weekend was an isolated incident, despite a similar event two years ago.
The Nunavut government says it will provide immunization against respiratory syncytial virus to all infants in the territory this fall, a policy change that one pediatric infectious diseases specialist has been advocating for decades.
Ontario’s Minister of Sport, Neil Lumsden, will donate his brain to research.
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
NASA scientists have successfully replicated spider-like shapes found on the surface of Mars in a laboratory setting for the first time.
Lawyers representing the producers of 'Russians at War' say they may pursue legal action against Ontario's public broadcaster for pulling support for the controversial documentary amid outcry from the Ukrainian community and some Canadian politicians.
Viewers of Jeopardy got a chance to test their knowledge of trivia about B.C.'s biggest city Wednesday night.
British actress Florence Pugh has revealed that shaving her head for her latest movie role was a 'really bizarre' experience that sent her body 'into a bit of trauma.'
A case involving stolen funds from a Saskatchewan business being used to purchase cryptocurrency will be heading back to the courts, thanks to a new decision by Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says there is a lot of uncertainty around how artificial intelligence could affect the economy moving forward, including the labour market and price growth.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. says chief executive Miguel Martin is adding the title of executive chairman.
A huge king penguin chick named Pesto, who weighs as much as both his parents combined, has become a social media celebrity and a star attraction at an Australian aquarium.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
Trips can make lifelong memories when they go off without a hitch, but cancellations and rescheduled events are common because of artist illnesses, poor ticket sales, security threats, unruly weather and natural disasters.
Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season, with the Los Angeles Dodgers star going deep twice to reach the half-century mark and swiping two bags to get to 51 against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he's been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season's playoffs.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette returned to the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger fracture.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.
The plant was expected to produce batteries for a million electric vehicles a year. Once up and running, it was supposed to create hundreds of permanent jobs in a small southeastern Ontario municipality. But two years later, spending on the construction of the Umicore plant has been delayed in what the company calls a "significant worsening of the EV market context."
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