[FEAT BC Admin]

In this topic area, discussion is about the fight to secure Government funding for your A.B.A. treatment program. It is also the place to talk about your thoughts and ideas about how to establish new Government programs specifically designed for autism treatment.

This is the place to hear input from parents who have fought for funding and won, as well as those who have fought for funding and would like to share their horror stories. There is a tendency to not share success stories once funding is secured. Please fight that tendency. By sharing our experience, we all become stronger.

 

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—-By FEAT BC (Freeman) on Saturday, January 3, 1998 – 03:16 pm:

-Hi everyone!

These are some things to think about in your dealings with government to help you to obtain support for your child’s Autism Treatment Program. These are my personal opinions and do not represent those of FEAT of BC or any other organization.

Many of these observations are based on my personal experiences (and I believe it poetic justice to help every parent avoid being systematically abused by their social worker the way I was).

Good luck to everyone! (Let’s all pull back the curtain on the Wizard of OZ).

Sabrina

 

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How To Fight for Funding for Autism Treatment and Appropriate School Placement

1. Establish a Paper Trail

Always take notes, documenting major points of all conversations with government and school officials.

This includes casual, in person conversations with social workers as well as ALL telephone conversations. All key points of discussion must be written down in your notes including the date and time of the discussion. This includes what was agreed upon, as well as what was not agreed upon.

Then the notes should be used to write a letter recapping the substance and content of the conversation. This letter must then be mailed or faxed to the person with whom you had the conversation. In addition, a copy must be kept in your file (see section on the icci game).

Why?

It is important to formalize the interaction between you and Government officials. In addition, everyone is put on notice that they must closely adhere to their responsibilities, regulations and laws., Furthermore, they must then consider the paper trail you have created. This lets everyone know that the interaction can become public and that any abuses of power and authority can be formally appealed and/or publicized.

In other words, they canit use discretion unfairly under the cloak of secrecy.

2. Submit all Requests in Writing

All your requests for your child must be submitted formally in writing with a copy included in your file and a copy, if necessary, sent to their immediate superiors.

3. Set Deadlines for Action

All formal requests for action must have a reasonable deadline set for that action. If no action or response is received by the deadline you have set (two weeks for example), then you will interpret the lack of response as a formal declination (a formal NO) of your requests.

Why Set Deadlines?

When bureaucrats do not want to do something, they will stall by ignoring you and your request. (As an aside, in the study of the bureaucracy, this is known as ithe power to do nothingi). They can string you along for years. When you have determined that the person you are interacting with is not inclined to help you or is not dealing in good faith, then you must take the initiative and formally label his/her behavior as obstructionist and de facto as a declination (a NO to your requests). This allows you to move to the next level of authority on your timetable to present your case. This takes the power to do nothing away from the bureaucrat with whom you are dealing. Simple stated, a bureaucrat who stalls and does nothing becomes irrelevant (use your invisible spray) and you move on to the next level of authority.

How to icci?

A cc. is a copy of your letter sent to someone other than the person you are writing. You put the cc. at the bottom left-hand corner of your letter followed by 2 spaces and the name of the person or people to whom you want to send a copy of the letter.

Who to icci to?

Sometimes it is best not to icci at all, especially in the early stages of the relationship (for example, your first letter to a social worker requesting assistance). This gives them the opportunity to do the right thing and does not present you as an overly combative person. When you start to run into problems, it is a good idea to send the icci to the 2 immediate superiors of the person you are having problems with. We do not recommend icciing all the way up the chain of command, since you want to give them a chance to solve the problem at the local level.

Why send a icci copy?

The reason for playing the icci game is that you want your interactions with the official to be known to his superior and possibly to other organizations so that 1) their action or inaction becomes a matter of record and 2) the individual knows he is being monitored. This helps minimize abuses of power and authority and helps encourage the official to meet their obligations and do the right thing.

What is the sequence of letters?

Find out the chain of command of the particular bureaucracy you are battling.

TOP

Minister
Deputy Minister
Children’s Ministry’s local region chain of command, all the way down to the District Supervisor
and Social Worker
Contacts can be found at the government directory: http://www.dir.gov.bc.ca/

BOTTOM

Start at the bottom and climb. At the Regional Operating Officer (ROO) level (once you have been declined) you have to decide whether to jump up to the top, threaten and then go to the media, or both. A word of wisdom: DO NOT BLUFF. If you are not willing to go all the way, they will ‘smell’ this. You must be prepared to take it right up to the Minister and beyond.

Documentation from Experts:

In your arsenal to fight for your child, it is wise to get his/her pediatrician and/or psychiatrist to write a letter on your childis behalf. In addition, any other experts who know your child and are sympathetic to what you are trying to do should become involved.

When to hire a lawyer?

If money is not an issue, you can hire a lawyer when you get to the area manager level. Make sure that you have a paper trail so the lawyer has something to work with. Also, have the lawyer give F.E.A.T. of B.C. a call, and we will send him/her information that will help.

If money is an issue (as it is for most of us running autism treatment programs), you might want to hire a lawyer once you have been turned down by the Minister.

How to hire a lawyer?

The type of lawyer needed is a litigator, or trial lawyer. S/he does not need to be an expert in autism, or special needs; s/he needs to be experienced in suing governments, and enjoys being in court. Word of mouth is a good way to find a lawyer.

Topic

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Well, well…here’s the value of heat.

The media is reporting that the Ontario government is dropping in public support in the latest poll due to the autism fiasco.

https://www.cp24.com/news/pc-support-slips-amid-anger-over-autism-changes-poll-1.4352022

Not surprisingly, at roughly the same time, the media is reporting a Minister suggesting that resource allocations to autism could “double”.

https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/03/25/money-for-autism-services-could-be-doubled-ontario-minister-says.html

Not surprisingly, families are “stressed” by all the politics…

New autism treatment rules are stressing families out

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Congrats to Louise Witt for giving it on the chin!

Surrey mom says Liberal budget falls short in helping people with autism

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Well, well….after announcing the new government’s changes to the “Ontario Autism Program” and generating a daily storm of protest for weeks, the Ontario conservative government yesterday announced “tweaks” to the changes that include “eliminating” something, “expanding” something else, and “smoothing” yet another thing.  The notice of changes are here:

https://news.ontario.ca/mcys/en/2019/03/ontario-enhancing-support-for-children-with-autism.html?_ga=2.258694026.1099209482.1553252483-51834406.1553252483

So what does this mean?  Well, a few years ago the Ontario Liberal government claimed to have engaged in lots of “consultation” and then announced some changes to the program (which included a cut-off of services at age five!).  This generated a lot of autism community protests across the province in which the Ontario Autism Coalition was a major player.  The result was that the government made some changes.  Last summer the new Conservative government was elected and they too claim to have engaged in lots of consultation and then announced recently their plan to eliminate the wait list and that too generated a lot of opposition from the community.  And now they too end up making some changes.  It would seem that both governments were not very good at their initial consultations and did not anticipate very well the impact and the reaction that their proposed changes were likely to generate.

One of the problems really seems to be that the government (of both parties) really don’t know how to manage healthcare with respect to autism treatment, and part of this problem is probably related to the fact that the treatment is not offered and administered by the Department of Health and covered by Medicare.  Instead, the Ministry of Community and Social Services seems to treat the file like one of its multitude of other problems that need “managing” with a hope that they will go away.  If you take a look at the “news” section of the Ministry website, it lists the news announcements that the Ministry wants the electorate to know about.  The page is here: https://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/news/index.aspx

And what are some of the topics they address? Women escaping violence and sexual exploitation, plans to restore the dignity of those on welfare, and my favourite “Helping people get ahead and stay ahead” (ahead of what?), etc.  Clearly, Ministry staff, bureaucrats, program administrators, etc. have a lot to deal with that has little to do with healthcare.  So why are they responsible for the Ontario Autism Program? What relevant expertise do they have? Why is the autism community in Ontario not asking for a transfer of the program to the Ministry of Health?

And then every once in a while there is another heartbreaking story.  The media is reporting now about one mother in Ottawa who is applying to court to make her child a “society ward”.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ottawa-mother-heads-to-court-to-make-son-with-autism-a-society-ward-1.4346508

 

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Well, it’s budget day in Ottawa.

The Minister of Finance’s speech and the budget plan documents are available here:

https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/download-telecharger/index-en.html

I checked the speech.  I can’t find the word “autism” (if I overlooked it and someone finds such a reference, please let me know).  The budget plan is 464 pages long. I found one reference to “autism” at page 159 in a passage about supporting employment for persons with intellectual disabilities and ASD.  This is what it says:

“To improve employment outcomes for persons with intellectual disabilities, and Autism Spectrum Disorders, Budget 2019 proposes to provide $12 million over three years, starting in 2019–20, to the Canadian Association for Community Living, in partnership with the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance for the Ready, Willing and Able program. The funding will be provided through the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities.”

When you skim over the budget plan one thing that sticks out is the number of times that the document describes federal government action to deal with any perceived problem as a “strategy”.  And there are plenty of them…e.g., the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy, National Housing Strategy, Strategy on Jobs and Tourism, Middle East Strategy, etc.

However, it is interesting to note that while many federal politicians (e.g., Mike Lake) over the years have suggested that autism issues are health-related and therefore provincial in nature, this budget announces  (p. 153) the allocation of millions of dollars towards a new “National Dementia Strategy” which has not yet even been made public yet!   

“…in support of the National Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias Act, Budget 2019 proposes to provide the Public Health Agency of Canada with $50 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, to support the implementation of Canada’s first National Dementia Strategy, which is expected to be publicly released this spring.”

Get it?  The government passed an Act requiring by law that the government develop, in cooperation with the provinces, a national strategy to deal with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.  The Act is here:

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2017_19/FullText.html

Could you imagine the government passing a “National Autism Strategy Act” and announcing in a budget the allocation of millions in support of a National Autism Strategy that has not even been made public yet???  

One has to wonder….(besides the apparent double standards of some politicians) will the Autism Society of Canada, CASDA, and all those other organizations across the country who claim to be the “voice” of the autism community, please explain to the autism community why is it that the Alzheimer Society of Canada can pull off getting a federal law passed to require federal and provincial involvement in the development of a national strategy and get millions allocated in a budget BEFORE the national strategy is even made public, while those who supposedly represent us can’t do the same for autism?

Perhaps it is time that our community asked the leadership of the Alzheimer Society of Canada to switch jobs and work for us (Hey! You’ve got a proven track record and could use another challenge, right? Please!).

 

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Remember a few years ago the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) had a policy convention and adopted an autism treatment resolution to get autism treatment covered by Medicare? It is available here:

https://winnipeg2016.liberal.ca/policy/medicare-coverage-for-the-treatment-of-autism/

The LPC’s “Policy Committee” then created a working group to study the matter and prepare a report with recommendations relating to its implementation.  That report (which apparently has not been made public but which I have received a draft of and provided comments on) was then given apparently to Mr. Ken Hardie, MP, who is the Liberal Caucus liaison person with the Policy Committee or something.

So…where are we at?  What’s happening?  Is the autism resolution on the way to implementation or what?  Nobody seems to be talking about it.  I wrote yesterday to Mr. Hardie and he replied to me. I then replied to him.  The correspondence is self-explanatory and copied out  below.  I don’t know if Mr. Hardie will respond to my last correspondence, but I hope he passes the exchange on to the Minister of Health, etc.

1) Initial email to Mr. Ken Hardie, MP.

Sunday, March 17, 2019.

Hello Mr. Hardie,

I am writing as a parent of a child with autism who is concerned about the lack of Medicare coverage for autism treatment across this country.

The Liberal Party of Canada passed a resolution at a policy convention a few short years ago to address this question and the policy committee of the party created a working group that drafted a report on the resolution with recommendations on its implementation. If I understand correctly, you are the caucus liaison and the report was given to you for distribution and action.  I understand you had a meeting with the autism community on the matter once.

May I please ask: where does the resolution stand?  What is the “action plan” on getting “buy in” from Cabinet and caucus and implementation of the resolution? What have you done and what are you planning on doing before the election?

As the past month’s media coverage in Ontario has demonstrated, the autism policies in Ontario (and the same applies across the country) are absolutely inadequate and a disgraceful scandal.

Yesterday a letter was published in an Ontario newspapers which hit the nail right on the head: “Autism should be funded by Ministry of Health”.

https://www.therecord.com/<wbr />opinion-story/9224301-autism-<wbr />should-be-funded-by-ministry-<wbr />of-health/

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Andrew Kavchak

2) Mr. Hardie’s response.

Sunday, March 17, 2019.

Hi Andrew,

I have made a direct appeal to the Minister of Health as well as to the platform committee to get progress toward the policy resolution.  What I’ve heard this far is that the Health Minister is looking for an initiative to cover a number of issues, rather than a series of disconnected ‘condition-specific’ strategies.  For example, the ALS community is also looking for additional help, and there are others.

As a follow-up to the meetings we had in Surrey a few months ago, I’ve also asked the Minister to convene a round table of provincial Health Ministers to try and get some standardization and improvements in support for parents of kids with autism.   We’ve yet to see the draft platform yet, but that should be coming out in the next couple of months.

Ken

3) My response to Mr. Hardie.

Monday, March 18, 2019.

Thank you Mr. Hardie for your prompt and informative reply.

I’m sorry to hear that the Minister is not interested in implementing the party’s autism resolution, which you describe as a “disconnected ‘condition-specific’ strategies”.  The last time I checked, the resolution that the party approved was about the lack of Medicare coverage for autism treatment. Getting Medicare coverage for autism treatment is hardly a move that can be described as “disconnected”.  It is precisely to end the historic discrimination and get autism treatment connected to the healthcare coverage that all other illnesses have enjoyed for decades.

As you know, there is no known cure for ALS but the FDA has approved two drugs (Riluzole and Edaravone) that can be used as “treatment” which can be expected to no more than slow the progression of the disease. Of course further research, including clinical trials of ALS stem cell treatments, etc. should be conducted where appropriate. Are Health Canada and PHAC not already regulating these? Where is the discrimination against sufferers of ALS that needs to be corrected?

Is the Minister of Health really setting aside a serious crisis in the autism community, and ignoring the party’s resolution on the matter, because a group of other Canadians suffering from an incurable disease are “looking for additional help”?  If that is the excuse for doing nothing to help get autism treatment under Medicare, then let’s face it: the autism community will never get what it needs because there is always some other community asking for additional programs and services.

The party debated this matter and two levels of courts in B.C. already declared that the Medicare system has been discriminating against autism sufferers because their core healthcare needs are not met under Canada’s public health insurance program.  The “general” statements in the Canada Health Act have not provided the coverage that Canadians with autism need.  “Specific” corrective action is required. This specific correction action can take various forms (legislation would not be necessary if the provinces were “incentivized” by other means). All the Health Accords with the provinces and territories could be re-negotiated either before or after their expiry.

The fact that the ALS community “is looking for additional help” now appears to be a convenient excuse to do nothing.  Divide and conquer.  Pit one group of disabled Canadians against another.  Is that the Canadian way?  Is that the Liberal Party of Canada way?

Let’s be frank: last year’s budget announcement of $20 million over five years to fund the creation of yet another website and anti-stigma (“awareness”) campaigns was a meaningless waste and a rather pathetic attempt to give the impression of a responsive government.  A full year later there is still no website and awareness of the challenges and discrimination faced by the autism community, and corresponding concern or interest by politicians who could do something about it, has not, in any material or tangible way, improved.  Based on the message in your email, it does not appear that the autism community should expect anything in tomorrow’s Liberal budget either.

Alas, another four-year government mandate squandered.

When is the next election again?

Sincerely,

Andrew Kavchak

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

For those who have been keeping tabs on the autism beat in Ontario, one of the depressing things that is crystal clear is that even though so many people have spoken up across the province to express their frustration with the government’s policy announcement, it is absolutely stunning how so many of them, from organization leaders to parents to employees in the industry, have missed many opportunities to express a critical message: “Medicare for Autism Now!”

One of the key problems with autism programs across the country is that treatment, where it is offered, is not done by the Ministry of Health and covered by Medicare.  In Ontario, it is the Ministry of Community and Social Services that has been providing the little bit of autism treatment that has been available in Ontario since 2000 and which had recently a whopping 23,000 kids on a “wait list” that the government is now trying to get rid of.  Yet, when I watch TV news reports and current affairs shows, or listen to the radio, or read the newspaper reports, no one is ever quoted saying “why is autism treatment delivered by the Ministry of Social Services and not Health?”  Once on a panel discussion on TV I saw on ABA therapist make the suggestion that “there should be more ministries involved, including health and education”.  Well, that was a step.

I remember receiving a call around 2007 from the then President of the Autism Society of Canada (I think her name was Fenton or something like that) who told me that she “did not care” which ministry delivers the treatment, as long as the kids who need it get it.  Well, it is an important issue and unfortunately too many people don’t understand it.  Medicare has been our national public health insurance for decades and  the law behind it (the “Canada Health Act”) sets out the primary objective of Canadian health care policy, which is <q>to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers.</q>

Other departments don’t have the expertise or the resources.  What other illnesses, disorders, diseases, syndromes or conditions are cured or treated by other departments than health?  Ontario’s Ministry of Community and Social Services has a number of major programs that are listed here:

https://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/mcss/index.aspx

Why would autism treatment be the responsibility of the department that deals with “Ontario’s strategy to end to human trafficking” or the provision of financial and employment assistance to those in need?  Is autism treatment the same as welfare in the eyes of the government and its bureaucracy?  And of the leaders of the autism community who claim to be our community’s voice? Needless to say, those who need it have not been getting it.  A major step in the right direction is to get autism treatment covered by Medicare.  Thank you to all the families involved in the Auton case on this point that went to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004.  Unfortunately, the court stated that since it is a matter involving the spending of public resources, it is a matter that is entirely up to the legislatures (and we have a Charter of Rights and court system for what again???).

But guess what?  Someone finally wrote a letter that got published on the topic in this province.

https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9224301-autism-should-be-funded-by-ministry-of-health/

The letter, titled “Autism should be funded by Ministry of Health” was published today in the Waterloo Record.  Here is the first paragraph:

“Autism has been known to be a neurological disorder, like muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis, since 1965. As such it should be funded as they are under the Ministry of Health rather than Ministry of Community and Social Services. The funding should not be determined by use of services or parents’ income; these criteria play no part in the funding of other neurological disorders.”

Bravo to author Kathryn Craig for saying what no one else seems to be aware of or willing to say (notwithstanding years of “autism awareness” campaigns).  Have you considered presenting yourself as a candidate to take over the leadership of the Ontario Autism Society? Please?

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Over the past few weeks the Ontario media has been absolutely relentless in carrying stories about the government’s changes to the Ontario autism treatment program and the resulting protests by parents.  Last week the media carried a story about a police detail being assigned for security reasons to the Minister.  Now the media is reporting that some parents went to a provincial MPP’s office and refused to leave until they spoke to someone (the MPP was not in) and the staff called the police.

Cornwall MPP stands by staff's decision to call police on autism parents

Other developments: rather than helping kids with autism get access to treatment, the government’s planned changes (which apparently will come into effect starting April 1) have already had one terrible consequence: therapists at “autism clinics” are losing their jobs!

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/layoffs-starting-at-autism-clinics-in-ontario-as-new-autism-funding-changes-loom-1.4336588

Experts are apparently calling for the government to delay implementation of their proposed plan:

https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/2019/03/14/autism-changes-should-be-delayed-experts-urge-ford-government.html

The kids who are no longer going to be getting full-time ABA treatment will be flooding the school system and school administrators have started ringing alarm bells. So the government announced some financial contributions and plans for teacher training, none of which impress some parents:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-autism-funding-parent-reaction-1.5052362

And of course, how could a little prolonged pressure for autism be sustained without spokespersons for other disabilities getting worried that they were being sidelined (this reminds me of how back around 2006 the Ontario Autism Society released a paper saying that all the focus on getting treatment for young newly-diagnosed kids was taking attention and resources away from the needs of adults with autism – how’s that for dividing a community?):

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9223311-group-worries-kids-with-other-disabilities-forgotten-amid-autism-crisis/

But the most interesting news of the week has got to be the benefits of donkey therapy:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-donkeys-are-helping-kids-with-autism-process-their-feelings

So where can one find a donkey in Ottawa?  Hmm…

 

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

And the latest developments in Ontario’s “Autism Gate” situation is that the Provincial Minister responsible for the autism treatment program (note: not the Minister of Health but the Minister of Social Services) has been “assigned a police detail”.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/autism-file-heats-up-as-social-services-minister-assigned-police-detail-1.4328664

And in a “look South of the border for how to do it better” moment, the Huff Post is carrying an article of interest….but who with any power and influence in a Canadian government will read it?

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2019/03/07/ontario-should-look-to-missouri-virginia-for-autism-funding-models-that-work-psychologists_a_23687292/

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Well, here’s the next installment in Ontario’s ongoing “Autism Gate” scandal.  There was a demonstration in front of the provincial legislature and yesterday the media reported that the Minister responsible for the autism programs in the province was going to avoid the protest because of threats to her security. Well, today the media is reporting that the police have made an arrest.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/lisa-macleod-threats-charges-1.5047729

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Well, the latest installment of “Autism Gate” in Ontario is being delivered.  As the provincial government plans to dramatically reduce the funding that each child currently receiving treatment will get (pursuant to this newly-announced formula that will distribute the current budget among all kids with autism currently being served and on the waiting list), the school board administrators are realizing that there will likely be a tsunami of kids with autism who will be flooding public schools and need extensive “supports” (forget ongoing one-on-one therapy treatment).  So now the school boards and principals are starting to wake up and communicate their concerns to the government (and the media is picking up on it).  Up until now the autism treatment program has been the monopoly of the Ministry of Social Services.  It is certainly high time that the Ministries of Health and Education got involved!

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-school-principals-urge-ford-government-to-delay-autism-program/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/students-with-autism-changes-ontario-principals-council-meeting-minister-1.5043201

This morning I heard on the local CBC radio news that the Ottawa school boards apparently had a meeting last night and the administrators put “autism policy changes” on the meeting agenda.  Apparently they made a big decision.  They designated someone who will draft a letter to send to the Government indicating that they would like the program changes to be delayed (currently scheduled for April 1) and they would like to meet with the Minister of Social Services to discuss this.  The news report suggested that some local parents are happy about this decision that was made last night.

Public school parents fear schools won't be ready for children with autism

Of course, the school boards in Ontario are facing some anticipated funding cuts, which will likely only compound the challenge of providing kids with autism with the help they need.

Ottawa's largest school board braces for possible provincial funding cuts

On a separate note, I saw something rather interesting on Mike Lake’s Twitter account.  He broadcast someone else’s message (a “retweet”) and then added his own comments, which are somewhat revealing.

The “retweeted” message from someone else was as follows:<b></b>

“NEW: Finance Minister @Bill_Morneau in @janephilpott resigning: “Jane Philpott is a close personal friend of Jody Wilson-Raybould. She took a
decision, I respect her decision. She was a good colleague, and she’ll take the decision that makes the most sense to her.” #cdnpoli”

And Mike Lake added his own message (March 4):ed Laura Stone

“This is so condescending. In 2017, as we pushed for a Canadian Autism Partnership, I felt like then Health Minister @JanePhilpott listened w/ respect &, I believe, eventually understood. @Bill_Morneau showed no such respect & ultimately blocked it, for purely political reasons.”

This is a very interesting statement.  During the debates over his pet project to create a new bureaucracy to engage in “issue identification”, etc. I don’t recall him saying anything particularly good or nice about the Liberals and subsequently criticized the Liberals for not supporting his initiative.  After the vote which resulted in his motion being defeated, he pointed out that the Liberal MPs who attended the autism awareness rallies voted against the motion (surprise!). I certainly don’t recall him saying anything positive about any Liberal Cabinet Minister including Jane Philpott who was the Minister of Health at the time. 

Well, now that Jane Philpott has resigned from Cabinet and publicly expressed her lack of confidence in Trudeau, suddenly Mike Lake publicly states that she listened with respect and understood. Really? She’s a doctor so I suspect that she understood autism well before Mike Lake said anything to her, but the fact of the matter is that whether she understood the needs of the autism community or not, she did NOTHING.  Ironically, here we have a situation where one federal politician portrays himself as understanding something, and suggests that another one who has more health-related education than he likely ever will have, “eventually” understood. And he suggests that Morneau is the “condescending” one”?!  Good grief!.  What do they both have in common? On the autism file, as far as I can tell, they both accomplished…nothing.

But that’s not the end of it. Lake then criticizes Morneau for not approving his new bureaucracy proposal and concludes that it was “for purely political reasons”!  This would be funny if the hypocrisy was not so blatant. Can it be reasonably suggested that what Mike Lake has said and not said, or done and not done, on the autism file, has been for anything other than “purely political reasons”?  For one example of Mike Lake’s “purely political reasons” for his having voted against a Bill that would have required the federal Minister of Health to create a National Autism Strategy with his provincial counterparts, see:

Click to access FEATBC_release_02_26_07.pdf

 

 

 

[Author]

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