QUEBEC — A group of soldiers is launching what may be the largest-ever legal assault on Canada's military, filing at least $60 million in lawsuits over stress they claim to have suffered while on duty, The Canadian Press has learned.

About 25 soldiers have filed or will file individual lawsuits, claiming they suffered post-traumatic stress because the Canadian Armed Forces ignored their psychological problems. The growing list of plaintiffs includes former and current members of the military, most of them former peacekeepers.

Four are Albertans, three are from Ontario and the rest are from Quebec.

"This has never been done before," Jacques Ferron, the Quebec City lawyer organizing the legal bid, said Monday.

"It's the first time such a group of soldiers joins to sue the military."

A group of soldiers will announce details of their legal challenge at a news conference Tuesday in Quebec City.

They will also unveil a letter they're sending to Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

One former sergeant has set up his own toll-free hotline for duty-scarred mates who might want to join the cause.

"I don't want my men who are still in the army to go through what I went through," said Georges Dumont, who served on peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Cyprus, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia.

"I want things to change."

A native of Dubreuilville, Ont., Dumont announced his own $2.84-million lawsuit against the army last year. The suit is pending in Federal Court.

The 20-year veteran says he still takes two anti-depressants and a sleeping pill each day, more than two years after he was given a medical discharge.

"Simple things like trying to open a door with a key, if the door doesn't open, you'll hit it," he said.

"Things you can do every day of the week, if they don't work you get pissed off."

The Department of National Defence refused to comment on the lawsuits Monday.

Lt. Hollie Ryan said she was not aware of any previous lawsuits against the Canadian military that matched the size of Ferron's legal challenge.

Ryan said the department never comments on pending cases.

Dumont says he launched his legal challenge after a fellow peacekeeper told him he was in a deep depression and planned to shoot himself.

The soldiers claim they were psychologically scarred because of inadequate military funding.

Canadian peacekeepers have let wounded civilians die in the street because they can't even afford over-the-counter medical care for them, Dumont said.

Then soldiers are ignored when they seek help to deal with duty-related stress, Dumont said.

He said his own depression worsened while he received no response to a grievance he filed years earlier.

Twelve lawsuits have been filed in Federal Court, about a dozen others will follow and several more are being studied by lawyers, Ferron said.