ark said:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/18/suicide-rates.html
According to this CBC article, we had 96,318 reg force members in 2006. Isn't this number way too high?
The numbers from the CBC story:
2003 86,937 Regular Force members
2004 90,772
2005 91,285
2006 96,318
2007 87,000
According to the DND website (http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/index_e.asp) the military currently has 62,000 Regular members and 25,000 Reservists, including Rangers. The CBC table has apparently added Regular and Reserve numbers, and then called them all Regular Force members.
However, according to Statistics Canada (http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/govt16a.htm) the military had the following numbers of military personnel, on average, in the same years:
2003 83,766
2004 84,059
2005 85,706
2006 87,728
2007 89,332
Looks like the numbers - and thus the conclusions - from the CBC story are out to lunch.
I'd also point out that until someone compares the suicides to the deploymets and units of the individuals, and takes into consideration statistics from Veterans Affairs on retired/released members, any conclusions are inaccurate and premature.