[Sabrina Freeman]

Hello FEAT BC!

Here is what you can do in this election to help children with autism.

There are nineteen (19) ridings in BC that are of special interest in the upcoming election. It is in these communities that FEAT parents can make an important contribution to our cause — here’s how.

Please take the time to write a letter to the editor of your local paper describing how this Government has failed your child who is struggling against autism. This is one of the few times that letters to the editor are VERY effective!

The most important ridings to target :

– Vancouver-Mount Pleasant: NDP Jenny Kwan vs. Liberal Gail Sparrow
– Vancouver-Kensington: NDP Ujjal Dosanjh vs. Liberal Patrick Wong
– Vancouver-Hastings: NDP Joy MacPhail vs. Liberal David Lee
– Vancouver-Kingsway: NDP Alicia Barsallo vs. Liberal Rob Nijjar
– New Westminster: NDP Graeme Bowbrick vs. Liberal Joyce Murray
– Powell River – Sunshine Coast: NDP Gordon Wilson vs. Liberal Harold Long

Other closely contested ridings:

– Victoria-Hillside: NDP Steve Orcherton vs. Liberal Sheila Orr
– Victoria-Beacon Hill: NDP Carole James vs. Liberal Jeff Bray
– Esquimalt-Metchosin: NDP Maurine Karagianis vs. Liberal Arnie Hamilton
– Surrey-Walley: NDP Joan Smallwood vs. Liberal Elayne Brenzinger
– Surrey-Green Timbers: NDP Sue Hammell vs. Liberal Brenda Locke
– Nelson Creston: NDP Corky Evans vs. Liberal Brian Suffredine
– Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows and Mission Kent
– Cariboo South: NDP Dave Zirnhelt vs. Liberal Walt cobb
– Prince George-Omineca: NDP Ed John vs. Liberal Paul Nettleton
-North Coast: NDP Colleen Fitzpatrick vs. Liberal Bill Belsey
– Malahat-Juan de Fuca: NDP Richard Hughes vs. Liberal Brian Kerr
– West Vancouver-Capilano: NDP Matt Lovick vs. Liberal Ralph Sultan
– Surrey-Cloverdale: NDP Steve Oakley vs. Liberal Kevin Falcon

Please feel free to use ideas from any postings on the FEAT BC discussion board and any information on the FEATBC web-site.

Let’s make British Columbia the best place for children with autism!

Sabrina
(Miki's mom)

[Sabrina Freeman]

TO: FEAT of BC families
FROM: Sabrina Freeman
RE: Government’s autism program known as “P-CARD”
***************************************************************

Hello everyone — welcome to the 2001 election!

This announcement is for all FEAT BC parents.

Heading into this election, we anticipate there may be some additional media focus on the ongoing autism controversy between families and the BC Government. In this regard, we ask any FEAT BC parents who have had experience with the Government autism project known as “P-CARD”, to please contact us to describe your experience with Government's autism program — presented in BC Supreme Court as the solution to court-ruled “direct discrimination” against our children’s constitutional right to equal access to publicly funded health care.

To all families who have attempted to get their child into the P-CARD intervention pilot program — or families who have experience in the government program — please write us (or call FEAT of BC, Ph. 534-6956); we very much want to know about experience you’ve had with Government’s program for autism intervention (or your attempts to get into P-CARD).

Thank you, and please encourage everyone you know to VOTE … for the sake of all our children!

Best Regards,
Sabrina (Miki’s Mom)

Ph. 604-534-6956
Fx. 604-534-9527
mailto:skfreeman@featbc.org

[Sabrina Freeman]

Lisa Graham, a FEAT BC mom in New Westminster, had a recent media exchange with her NDP MLA — and Attorney General — Mr. Graeme Bowbrick, in his riding’s paper.

Lisa kindly transcribed these letters to share with our group.
Sabrina

*********************************************************************
From the Newsleader, NewWestminster/Burnaby local paper

March 11, 2001 — Letter to the Editor: "NDP failing autistic children"

It is high time that the NDP realize that court findings are not negotiable, and that it is not within their mandate to excuse themselves from adherence to the Canadian Constitution. Found guilty of discrimination against autistic children, the NDP's response is to appeal the BC Supreme Court rulings, and instead offer a "new" package of services for autistic children. But unlike other NDP "good-news" announcements, the package for autistic children was released without any fanfare at all. Very likely, it is because the new package perpetuates the government's discrimination against autistic children by completely ignoring those over the magic age of six-years-old. For autistic children over the age of six, the NDP package is indeed tragic and condemnatory; for the parents of the children who don't merit equal rights under the NDP, it is heart-breaking. And the NDP are supposedly the party of social-consciousness, what a joke.

— Lisa Graham

*********************************************************************

From: The RECORD, NewWestminster local paper

March 25th, 2001;letter to the editor from NewWestminster MLA, Attorney-General Graeme Bowbrick: "MLA replies to criticism over govt.'s court appeal"

In response to some recent letters to the editor about early intervention services for children with autism, I would like to clarify the government's actions and the court's decisions on this matter. This government recognizes the importance of early intervention services for children with autism and related disorders. That's why we are implementing a provincial program which includes a provincial centre for autism, an advisory committee of experts in this field, and community-based early intensive behavioural intervention services. Last summer, the B.C. Supreme Court rendered its decision in the Auton case concerning the province's obligation to fund therapies for children with autism. Subsequently, the court issued a ruling last month on whether the province was compelled to fund a specific treatment program for autistic children. In the recent decision, the court held that the government's implementation date of the provincial program complies with our legal and constitutional obligations and that the government was not required to fund specific treatment such as Lovaas therapy. The court accepted the fact it will take some time to fully implement the program. The court recognized that governments must have the freedom to design programs to meet their constitutional obligations. However, the court's decision from last summer raises significant constitutional issues which we believe need to be addressed in an appeal. As a result, the government filed an appeal on these issues of law, not on the delivery of treatment services for autistic children. In the meantime, the original petitioners in this case have filed an appeal of the court's latest ruling concerning funding for specific treatment.
We are encouraged that the court recognizes that the government is taking the right steps in developing effective services for children with autism. We remain fully committed to delivering these services whatever the outcome of the appeal.

–Graeme Bowbrick, MLA (NewWestminster)

*********************************************************************

Letter to the Editor:

A wife accuses her husband of forgetting to put the lid down on the toilet-seat … again! The husbands response? He accuses her of forgetting to buy milk. For whatever reason, he refuses to acknowledge the wrong-doing, … and his reply? Well, it really doesn't qualify as a logical defense.

Mr. Bowbrick, the fact that your government is being forced to comply with a BC Supreme Court decision to service autistic children who are "under" the age of six is in no way a relevant defense to the critism that your government's policies continue to discriminate against autistic children "over" the age of six.

It would be more helpful to your constituents if you would respond to the specific criticism that is directed at your government rather than subject us to your political double-speak on what is a non-issue.

But how dare you imply that early intervention services for autistic children under the age of six are in any-way-shape-or-form, the result of NDP initiatives! Your government lawyers argued against the funding of such every step of the way.

Excerpt from Madame Justice Allan's July 2000 summation: **"…by failing to fund effective treatment for autism, the government has misinterpreted its legislative mandate to provide health care services[125].
**As one example, the Crown submits that if an autistic child gets cancer, he or she will receive treatment for cancer. That justification is misguided as well as unfortunate. It ignores the fact that autism is a medical disability just as cancer is and that they both require treatment[134].
**…[T]he gravamen of the government's omission is its failure to provide treatment for the underlying disability, not its willingness to ensure access to other benefits[135].

The NDP's response to the plight of autistic children has been nothing but disingenuous.

When the office of the Attorney-General agreed to acknowledge "…that a finding that the Government was in breach of its obligations to the petitioners would mean that it was a breach of its obligations to autistic children generally…[9;Justice Allen's October 2001 summation]", every intelligent individual assumed that the definition of "children" was inclusive of all persons under the age of 19-years-old.

And though technically, the Allen decision applied to the "infant petitioners", given the aforementioned "acknowledgement", we were led to believe that "every" autistic child would be accorded their constitutional rights, not just those under the age of six.

So tsk, tsk, tsk … shame on you Mr. Bowbrick for antagonizing the parents whose autistic children are over the age of six with your March 25th letter to the editor.

Please Mr. Bowbrick, just put the lid down — that is, acknowledge our criticism with an appropriate response … we should not have to resort to fighting the government in court in order to merit the implementation of our autistic childrens' equal rights.

Lisa Graham

[Sabrina Freeman]

Paul Thibideau, a hard working autism lobbyist in Ottawa, is organizing a nationwide letter writing campaign. Here is a letter he wanted us to share with members of this e-mail list, many of whom are in provinces across Canada. He has also included contact information for all Members of Parliament that we have made available at https://featbc.org/MPs.html

Sabrina

**************[P. Thibideau Letter}**************
This is to share with you my summary of comments received in response to my recent e-mail (to different groups) about a letter writing campaign. This is also to thank those who sent me their comments and suggestions.

1)- First, WE NEED TO EDUCATE THE POLITICIANS ABOUT AUTISM AND GET THEIR ATTENTION. This means that, at least 1000 letters from coast to coast will be needed. This could easily be achieved if, for instance, each family, friends and relatives of the few thousand Canadian children with autism wrote one letter and sent it to at least 10 politicians, e.g. ONLY ONE PERSONAL LETTER BY EACH WRITER TO AS MANY DIFFERENT POLITICIANS AS POSSIBLE IS ALL THAT IS NECESSARY. Politicians are quite sensitive when they receive letters about a specific situation from a number of correspondents (whether they are from their constituents or not).

This time, if we fail due to a lack of interest or efforts by every one of us, this issue likely will not be resolved for at least another 10 or 20 years – then, it will be too late for most of our children and us.

So, LET'S ALL GET ON THE BANDWAGON AND FLOOD THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL POLITICIANS' OFFICES WITH LETTERS.

2)- Much pressure needs to be exerted at the Federal and Provincial levels in each of your respective areas. In addition, as suggested by Western correspondents, some of your letters should also be addressed to Ontario politicians, since a greater input from these politicians will be necessary if a satisfactory resolution of this situation is ever to be achieved.

3)- Letters reflecting your personal experience, with or without quotations and references from my earlier e-mail, (provided they are no longer than a page or two) will normally produce better results than a form letter sent by a larger number of people. Be firm, specific and indicate that you expect a response and action. If after a month or so, you did not receive any answer, follow up with another letter.

4)- IT IS IMPORTANT TO REACH AS MANY POLITICIANS AS POSSIBLE FROM ALL PARTIES, since for many of them, partisanship seems to prevail over human concerns.. You can form small groups. Each person selecting a number of politicians to write to from the list (list of all Federal M.P. and Ontario M.P.P. to follow), thus covering more ground and less duplication, Worth mentioning,.. in the province of Quebec, the concerns from some 70 families were sent to all provincial politicians.

5)- In order to add extra weight to your letters, try to form small groups of parents, friends and/or family and REQUEST A FACE TO FACE MEETING with your local Federal and Provincial representatives.

6)- It is important for the politicians to realize that WE ARE UNITED, FRUSTRATED WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION AND WE REPRESENT A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF VOTERS AND TAX-PAYERS.

Please note all letters m,ust go out as soon as possible. The flow of letters should be maintained for a few weeks, thus producing a greater impact on those who must resolve this long-overdue dilemma.

7)- Any MEDIA COVERAGE in your own area would be a plus.

The annual general meeting of the Ottawa Chapter, Autism Society Ontario, is scheduled for Tuesday, April 24,2001. The media and members of the general public are invited to attend.

Paul L. T.

Ei415@ncf.ca

P.S.:- If you did not receive my (mid-March) first e-mail or you lost it, let me know and I will gladly send you another one.

WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER

IF WE ARE TO SUCCEED.

LET'S ALL DO OUR SHARE.

[Sabrina Freeman]

By Sabrina Freeman (Freeman) on Wednesday, February 21, 2001 – 11:01 am:

A quick reminder note about the FEAT BC parent group meeting tonight, Wednesday 03/21/01

-> 7:30PM at St. Francis in the Woods in West Vancouver. A map is available on the web at
https://featbc.org/downloads/map.pdf

New parents are welcome — please pass on the information.

[Sabrina Freeman]

I'd like to respond to Barb’s post regarding the Guralnick video-conference organized by MCF. I'm very happy to hear we had high quality FEAT representation at the video conference, with several members in attendance.

I have much respect for the outstanding New York Department of Health autism report edited by Dr. Guralnick and was glad to hear he delivered the message regarding what constitutes REAL best practices for the treatment of autism. I'm sure there were a few government MCF policy folks that were less than thrilled with his comments (the uncomfortable truth).

In terms of getting government to go with a province-wide Guralnick video conference on
autism, that would be great. Unfortunately, I think it may not happen until a new government is in charge — it might be a hard sell with the current government since they are somewhat miffed that autism parents who are demanding genuine best practice won't get back into line.

Barb, it's a great initiative. Keep us posted.

Sabrina (Miki’s Mom)

[Sabrina Freeman]

Hi again.

I just received an invitation some members of the discussion board may find interesting.

Apparently our government has hired a very big name to make it appear as though they are actually concerned with early intervention for special needs children. The editor of the groundbreaking New York Report on Best Practices for Children with Autism, Dr. Michael Guralnick, is now, ironically, working with the same government players (MCF) who tenaciously worked through government lawyers to trash the New York Report in B.C. Supreme Court. Your children’s ministry is now spending more of your tax dollars to put the editor of the N.Y. Autism Report on a province-wide, pre-election, video conference on early intervention. We can now rest assured with the knowledge that children are this government’s HIGHEST priority ;-)

Anyway, the government has organized a “Free Video-Conference Education Forum: A Community-Based Prevention and Early Intervention System for Young Children with, or at Risk for Developing, Special Needs”, on March 9th from 12:30 – 4:30 PM at the following 20 towns in B.C. :

– Courtney, Chilliwack, Cranbrook, Duncan, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Houston, Kamloops, Kelowna, Kitimat, Nelson, Port Alberni, Port Hardy, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Williams Lake, Powell River, Vancouver, Vernon, Victoria.

I’m not sure how much of Dr. Guralnick’s address will relate to autism, but it should be interesting to hear what he will say about autism in front of the Ministry that has hired him to speak.

If you would like an e-mail invitation to this video conference, you can contact
Marie.Schultz@gems5.gov.bc.ca or give FEATBC a call (or mailto:admin@featbc.org) and we’ll fax you the registration form.

Anyone planning on going, please contact FEAT BC if you would like to volunteer to give us your notes.

Sabrina (Miki’s mom).

[Sabrina Freeman]

Hi all.

I’ve just been faxed a very exciting piece of news by a hard working FEAT dad. The fax is part of a Liberal Party publication distributed today to Richmond households with a section entitled “Together, we can strengthen BC’s families”.

The section reads as follows:

“SUPPORT FOR PARENTS AND FAMILIES:

One of the best ways to support children is to support those who raise them. Many new or expectant parents do not have role models for advice or companionship, and family resource programs play an important part in providing support.

Families of children with autism face a particular need for early intervention programs, which are essential for learning and social development.

– The government must ensure family resource programs continue to play an important role in early childhood intervention programs.

– IN PARTICULAR, THE PROVINCE MUST MEET ITS LEGAL DUTIES UNDER THE CANADA HEALTH ACT.”

At this time, only the Liberal Party of B.C. endorses the inclusion of medically necessary autism treatment in the B.C. health care system as required by the Canada Health Act. This is a major departure from long standing government policy that views autism is merely a social services matter under a Children’s Ministry jurisdiction.

This is a very positive development. We all need to work hard to ensure that politicians keep their promises.

Sabrina (Miki’s mom).

[Sabrina Freeman]

I'd like to respond to Andy Danylou's post suggesting FEAT BC is comprised of “litigious zealots”, but first, I'd just like to comment on how great it is to have this forum for exchange of opinions, no matter how divergent those views may be.
______________________________________
Andre Danyliu wrote:
>
> Hello
>
> Barbara has a good point.
>
> We should ask to appear before the liberal caucus to provide them with
> facts about Autism and establish lines of communication so they don't
> see us as litigious zealots the way the NDP obviously do.
> We need to be politely firm; state our case and work with them. Perhaps
> a task force to implement that which the courts and common sense
> dictate?.
>
> I'm prepared to help in this effort if there are others who agree.
______________________________________

Andy seems to insinuate that FEAT BC hasn't put enough effort into opening lines of “communication” with the NDP government, and that parents who brought this lawsuit are trigger happy and did not exhaust all options before firing the legal bullet.

A closer look at the record indicates the label of “litigious zealots” would be a grossly inaccurate characterization of the families who brought on this legal action. Sincere efforts at working with government have spanned many years prior to the court case, both on the part of FEAT BC and the hundreds of families who individually have “communicated” with unresponsive civil servants and government Ministers.

Over several years before the writ was issued …
a. A detailed FEAT BC information packet was HAND delivered to Minister Joy MacPhail outlining urgent policy reforms required in autism treatment in 1996. Our analysis and recommendations were ignored.

b. Detailed FEAT information briefs were sent to EVERY member of government including the Deputy Minister of MCF, Ministers of Health, Children and Families, Premier Glen Clark, and senior level civil servants. Our analysis and recommendations were ignored.

c. A FEAT BC delegation went to Victoria carrying an 8200 signature petition of concerned British Columbians asking that children with autism be included in Medicare — it was presented by a Liberal MLA to the government on the legislature floor. Government’s response? A shallow speech from a back-bench NDP MLA essentially stating Lovaas Treatment is a gold plated American treatment and in these times of fiscal problems, government can’t afford it.

The same 8200 signature petition was hand delivered to the Minister of Health, Penny Priddy in her office in the parliament buildings. The petition and our legitimate grievance were ignored. The “communication” went nowhere.

The response of the Minister for Children and Families to the petition? She dodged responsibility: “that’s something that the Minister of Health would have to look at”. The Minister of Health pointed fingers at the Minister of Education. The CBC TV interview can be seen at the web site below:

http://www.featbc.org/files/media/video/CBCNEWS_06_01_98.ram

d. We engaged the Minister of Children and Families of the day, Lois Boon, in direct debate in parliament during budget estimates, through one of our FEAT members’ MLAs — Rick Thorpe. Not surprisingly, no government policy change resulted — our children's treatment needs were still ignored.

e. Dozens of letters from our grassroots membership, all produced in court affidavits, were written to high levels of government pleading for help to fund their treatment programs — none was forthcoming. Years of patronizing, empty, boilerplate responses from intransigent, unconcerned bureaucrats and politicians is all that our families received.

f. A direct appeal was made to Health Minister Joy MacPhail on behalf of a FEAT representative by Federal M.P. John Reynolds. The government's response was that Autism is not a Health issue nor a Ministry of Health responsibility. She passed us back to the Children’s Ministry and expressed no government inclination to co-operate regarding our legitimate grievance.

When did we start to see ANY Government attention paid to autism at all?

Well, it started after FEAT BC helped expose the exodus of parents to Alberta (The BCTV story “Leaving BC for Health Care” http://www.featbc.org/files/media/video/BCTVNEWS_11_26_97.ram). Shortly after the story, government announced it would convene an Autism Workshop “to guide and direct policy”. The workshop result? A decision to create an Autism Action Plan. Result of the Action Plan? An MCF booklet on its “services” and how to access them … and a commitment to conduct further planning and reviews.

After years of government inaction, and parents being rebuffed by intransigent bureaucrats, a writ was issued in BC Supreme Court. Seventy-Two hours before the court case was to start, the Ministry for Children and Families announced an Autism Pilot Project. Coincidence? Was it a genuine effort to help kids with autism or simply an attempt to buy an argument in court i.e. “we need to show the judge government really DOES have something other than baby-sitting services or we’re toast”. Regardless, it appears as though parents being “litigious” is what spurred SOME kind of government action more substantial than the Action Plan’s MCF booklet on services.

The Pilot Project was not allowed in the court case because the Deputy Minister of MCF refused to go on the stand for cross examination. We can speculate as to what he was afraid of.

So what did government do next? After losing the July 2000 court ruling, they had a neat idea: “why don’t we take the old Pilot Project, rename it and get it introduced in court for the November hearings on remedy for the constitutional violation? Let’s call it something impressive like the Provincial Center for Autism and Related Disorders — the P-CARD. Let’s tell the judge the new autism program will do what she said we need to do, provide “Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention”. Yah, that sounds good. Let’s put that on the cover and run with it”.

The P-CARD leaves 2 out 3 three kids under 6 out of the program — even by end of 2002. It leaves 100% of kids over 6 out — permanently. It has no components of genuine autism treatment. It only accepts a government diagnosis — your pediatrician’s diagnosis is not valid. But we did “galvanize” the government to do something — other than the booklet of course.

Rather than being unfairly characterized as litigious zealots, I would say we are a movement for social justice — I am proud of that. We are defending the constitutional rights of our children.

Our very small numbers mean we have political power that approaches zero, especially against a stubborn, intransigent government and a vindictive bureaucracy.

It may not surprise some of you that the Supreme Court of Canada has already recognized the unfortunate situation where a bureaucracy violates the rights of the disabled. The court states, “In my opinion, groups that have historically been the target of discrimination cannot be expected to wait patiently for the protection of their human dignity and equal rights while governments move toward reform one step at a time. If the infringement of the rights and freedoms of these groups is permitted to persist while governments fail to pursue equality diligently, then the guarantees of the Charter will be reduced to little more than empty words.” Iacobucci, Vriend v. Alberta.

In our case, we have taken a virtually powerless, marginalized minority of disabled children before the courts so as to bestow upon them the same rights the majority enjoys to publicly funded health care.

Going to court was a last resort, not the precipitous act of hot-headed “litigious zealots”. Do we want to work with government? Absolutely. But we have no partner who wants to work in good faith. What we have now is a government trying to pass off a hopelessly flawed pilot project as fulfillment of what the court has directed.

We hope a change in government will improve things for our children; however, their constitutional rights — firmly declared in court — must not fall victim to the vagaries of BC’s polarized politics. Governments come and go and so too their policies. Our children’s rights are too important. Their right to health care must be entrenched to ensure that the words of Justice Emmett Hall are not empty: "Our proudest achievement in the well-being of Canadians has been in asserting that illness is burden enough in itself. Financial ruin must not compound it. That is why Medicare has been called a sacred trust and we must not allow that trust to be betrayed." Justice Emmett Hall.

I quite agree with Andy Danylou that all FEAT members should visit and speak to as many Liberal MLAs as possible. We have already met with key Liberals on several occasions and have found a receptive ear. My feeling is that the more Liberals who truly understand the injustice and are touched by parents of children with autism, or those children themselves, the more quickly they will rectify the discriminatory, second class status imposed by government on children with autism. Until our children's treatment is covered by the health care system, the fight for their constitutional rights will continue.

Just my two cents.

Sabrina

[Sabrina Freeman]

A quick reminder note about the FEAT BC parent group meeting tonight, Wednesday 02/21/01

-> 7:30PM at St. Francis in the Woods in West Vancouver. A map is available on the web at https://featbc.org/downloads/map.pdf

New parents are welcome — please pass on the information.

[Author]

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