[Andrew Kavchak]

Liberals take legal action over MPP's autism fight
Globe & Mail
Mar 14, 2007

By: KEITH LESLIE

TORONTO

The Liberal government has taken unprecedented legal action
against a member of the Ontario Legislature to conceal the legal
costs of its long-running court battle with the parents of autistic
children, the province's New Democrats charged yesterday.

New Democrat Shelley Martel started seeking the government information
in 2004, and eventually turned to the province's Freedom of
Information law to find out the cost of the lengthy court fight
with families who want the province to continue financing expensive
intensive behavioural intervention [IBI] therapy after their
autistic children reach age six.

A court ruled in 2005 that cutting children off from treatment
at age six violated their basic Charter rights, but the government
has appealed that decision.

Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian ruled earlier
this year that the government should release its legal costs
by March 8, but the day before the deadline both Ms. Martel
and Ms. Cavoukian were named by the Attorney-General's ministry
in a request for a judicial review of Ms. Cavoukian's
order.
"This decision to take legal action against me and against the
Information and Privacy Commissioner is obscene, and it makes
me very angry," Ms. Martel told a Queen's Park news
conference.
"For three years, I've tried to get access to information which
I think should be in the public domain. After all, we are talking
about taxpayers' money. . . ."

Ms. Martel accused the Liberals of using "courtroom bullying"
in an attempt to muzzle her and stop her from uncovering the
government's true legal costs. She said that the money would
be better spent providing what the families have been asking
for — continued IBI therapy for their autistic children.

Ms. Martel's lawyer, Frank Addario, said it's obvious Ontario's
Freedom of Information law doesn't work when governments can
use it to block the release of data that should be made
public.
"It's a stonewalling bureaucrat's dream," Mr. Addario said.

Ms. Cavoukian does not comment on her office's orders, but a
spokesman for her office said it is not unusual for rulings
from the Information and Privacy Commissioner to be appealed
to the Divisional Court, although most are upheld. "We win the
vast majority of cases," spokesman Bob Spence said.

Conservative Leader John Tory said the government should stop
fighting Ms. Martel and the families of autistic children and
simply release an accounting of the legal costs of the court
battle.
"I fully support Shelley Martel's right to have this information,"
Mr. Tory said. "This is taxpayers' money, and only Dalton McGuinty
would spend even more money on lawyers instead of giving it
to the kids who need it."

The government said yesterday it is not suing Ms. Martel or
Ms. Cavoukian, and is appealing the order to make the information
public because it does not want to release legal costs when
a case is still before the courts.

Ms. Martel's complaints about the judicial review came one day
after a Superior Court judge rejected most of the claims of
a separate group of families with autistic children, who attempted
to launch a $1.25-billion lawsuit against the Ontario government
and seven school boards.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
I received a letter from BC MP Randy Kamp yesterday in which he indicated that he supported the concept of a National Autism Strategy and included the now widely-distributed letter from Mike Lake, MP, about why he voted against Bill C-304. Below is the text of the letter that I mailed to Mr. Kamp in reply.
_______________________________

March 7, 2007.

Mr. Randy Kamp, M.P.
451-S Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Kamp,

Re: The Need for a National Autism Strategy

Thank you for your letter of February 28, 2007 in which you indicate your support for a National Autism Strategy (NAS). Thank you also for including the letter from Mike Lake which explains why the Tories voted against Bill C-304.

It was with profound sadness and disappointment beyond description that I learned that Bill C-304 was defeated and not referred to a House Committee for detailed examination. The Bill contained two parts, one of which involved the creation of a NAS. The death of this Bill at the hands of the Tories and the Bloc was a very dark moment in the history of autism in Canada.

I appreciate your stating that you support a NAS, but we still do not have one. Even though the provinces provide treatment for cancer, heart health, spinal cord rehabilitation, etc. your government has continuously been announcing the creation and expenditure of millions of dollars on such “National Strategies”. Is it really too much to ask the Minister to meet with his provincial counterparts and develop an autism plan pursuant to the process described in Bill C-304? I hope that you and your colleagues (who continue to state that you support a NAS) will continue to lobby the Health Minister and your caucus to demonstrate leadership on this file. The autism initiatives announced in November (e.g. creation of an autism webpage) were inadequate and negligible compared to the initiatives the federal government is supporting in its “National Strategies” for other diseases.

Regarding the Mike Lake letter, I have indeed received several copies from other MPs and other parents across the country who received it from their respective MPs. Mike Lake comes from the province of Alberta which provides autistic kids with more social services and educational support than any other province. When my colleague and I first met with him in Ottawa after the last election he told us that when his son was diagnosed he also received a $10,000 cheque from a professional hockey player to pay for treatment in the private sector.

For a parent in such circumstances to be part (along with his own autistic son) of government propaganda attempting to justify inaction when so many people across the country in much less fortunate circumstances than his own family’s are suffering leaves many in our community simply speechless. Many of them found his letter to be flawed and lacking the thoughtfulness that the issue necessitates. His letter trivializes the magnitude of the problem (e.g. suggesting it is merely a “wedge issue”) and reflects a disturbing dismissive abdication of leadership as well as missed opportunity. The voting that took place on February 21 was not to pass the Bill into law but to refer it to a Committee for review, which could have generated positive proposals for amendments if given a chance. Nothing will come of that now. Success? Hardly. Problem solved? No way.

In response to Mike Lake’s letter, Families for Early Autism Treatment (F.E.A.T.) of B.C. (http://www.featbc.org) issued the enclosed annotation on February 26. The document can be accessed at their website at:
https://featbc.org/downloads/FEATBC_release_02_26_07.pdf

You may find the passages in the FEAT document that refer to you to be of interest. Please distribute this to your caucus colleagues, particularly those who have been disseminating Mike Lake’s letter, as they should all be aware of the issues.

I am also enclosing a copy of a relevant letter that I had published in the March 5 issue of The Hill Times.

What is most disturbing to tens of thousands of members of the autism community across Canada, including myself, is that neither Mike Lake nor any other member of the Government appears to be proposing any meaningful alternative action plan. The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs is expected to issue its report on “Funding for the Treatment of Autism” in May (or when Parliament resumes after the expected election). If the report contains meaningful recommendations (including possibly the creation of a NAS), please promote and work towards their timely implementation rather than sending out letters attempting to explain why nothing can be done for autistic kids.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Andrew Kavchak

[Andrew Kavchak]

The Hill Times
Monday, March 5, 2007.
Editorial Page, p. 8.

Page 8 has a picture of MP Pierre Poilievre with a caption that reads: "He's a government man now: Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, above, and the governing Tories voted against Bill C-304, turning their backs on disabled children, says letter-writer Andrew Kavchak."

Letter to the Editor

Conservative Hypocrisy on autism and Bill C-304

It was with profound disappointment that families with autistic children across Canada watched the Conservatives gang up with the Bloc on February 21, 2007 to defeat Bill C-304 after second reading and before a House committee even had a chance to examine the Bill's contents.

The Bill would have created a National Autism Strategy and included autism treatment in Medicare which is currently a huge gap in our public health insurance system.

It is difficult to understand Conservative Party schizophrenia on the autism file. In the last election they ran on healthcare and childcare. This gave parents of autistic children hope since their kids were getting neither healthcare nor appropriate childcare.

Moreover, just two months ago the Conservatives voted in support of Motion M-172 to create a National Autism Strategy. However, motions are not binding.

Bill C-304 would have required the Health Minister to negotiate a strategy with his provincial counterparts and table the plan in the House. That won't happen now. Are national strategies only reserved for conditions which the provinces already treat? What kind of leadership is that?

Perhaps the Conservative Party's approach is best understood by the writings and actions of Pierre Poilievre. When Mr. Poilievre was in opposition he was approached by a number of families with autistic kids who pleaded for assistance. He attended and spoke at an autism rally and press conference. His position was stated in an op-ed article of his that was published with his picture in The Hill Times on March 21, 2005 with the title "Birth of a child shouldn't become healthcare roulette: exclusion of autism treatment from Canada's medicare".

After accusing the then governing Liberals of "a new and shameful low in Liberal hypocrisy" for their intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Auton case, he went on to say: "So what can be done? We must amend the Health Act so medicare will include effective, scientifically-validated autism treatment for children with autism".

Now that he voted against Bill C-304, shall we call this turning of their backs on disabled children "a new and shameful low in Conservative hypocrisy"?

Andrew Kavchak,
Ottawa, Ont.

[Andrew Kavchak]

MPs duck the challenge of autism; Shawn Murphy's failed bill may have raised awareness. But families of autistic children need support.

The Guardian(Charlottetown)

Mar 5, 2007

Editorial

It's unfortunate that the House of Commons last week defeated the bill to create a national autism strategy. But the debate surrounding it has raised awareness of autism and this could be an important step toward eventually achieving such a strategy.

For the last year, Charlottetown MP Shawn Murphy has been championing the call for a national strategy to improve autism treatment and services. Last week, he introduced a private member's bill advocating such a strategy, but it was defeated 155-113. Although the bill won't proceed, the vote itself is noteworthy. Obviously many members of Parliament – 113 to be precise – share Murphy's concern about the lack of services for people with autism, and the inequities in the services that are available.

There's good reason for this concern. As Murphy said himself after the vote was defeated, research released by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control shows that one in every 150 children is affected by autism spectrum disorder, a phenomenon that's generating a groundswell of concern among scientists, health-care workers, educators and politicians. Governments can't dismiss this.

Here in P.E.I., the concern about autism services has most recently been expressed before the provincial Human Rights Commission by parents who say the support and services for Islanders with autism fall far short of what's needed. This concern has been echoed in letters to the editor, including one from a grandmother of an autistic child who put the consequences in plain terms: waiting lists and a lack of therapists mean children with autism aren't diagnosed and treated as early as they should be.

This has to change. If the statistics on autism released by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control reflect the reality, then governments at all levels must put the necessary resources toward helping those with autism manage and live with their condition. We need a national strategy that would, in co-operation with the provinces, map out an approach to diagnosis and treatment and provide the resources needed to deliver these.

The attempt to create that strategy has been set aside by Parliament for now. But the significant number of MPs who voted for Mr. Murphy's bill should give hope to those striving for improvements. They've caught the attention of our national decision-makers. They now have to be nudged into action.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Thanks Nicole for sharing that. Please send Mr. Moore a copy of the FEAT BC annotation to Mike Lake's letter. MPs who send that kind of reply should be asked whether they have any MPs with children suffering from cancer who were used by the party to oppose the Party's National Cancer Strategy and whether the provinces also expressed opposition to the creation of the National Cancer Strategy, National Heart Health Strategy, etc…
Thanks again for sharing that.
I heard that Minister Clement had a press conference today and one of the Parliamentary press gallery reporters asked him about the defeat of Bill C-304. "It is provincial" was his response. It makes you wonder – what for Health Accords? What for a public health agency of Canada? What for a federal Department of Health? etc.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Costly wait
The Ottawa Citizen
Feb 23, 2007

Page: A13
Byline: Andrew Kavchak

Thanks to the Citizen for describing the hopelessly inadequate resources of our children treatment system for autism. The wait times to see a specialist and get a diagnosis are equally outrageous. My family waited more than a year after approaching the Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre before a specialist gave our son a diagnosis of autism. We waited 15 more months to get financial assistance for treatment. We had no option but resort to the private sector at tremendous expense.

MP Shawn Murphy's private member's bill would have addressed the problem by requiring the federal health minister to meet with his provincial counterparts and develop a national autism strategy. But on Wednesday night, the Conservatives teamed up with the Bloc Quebecois to kill the bill. Disabled children with autism and their families know they cannot count on the provincial government for timely or adequate autism treatment. Now we know the federal government won't provide leadership.

Andrew Kavchak, Ottawa

_________________________

Island MP's autism strategy bill defeated; Shawn Murphy says private member's bill raised attention about need for action
The Guardian(Charlottetown)
Feb 23, 2007

Page: A4
Section: The Province

Charlottetown MP Shawn Murphy's private member's bill which would have required the government to produce a national strategy to improve autism treatment across the country has been defeated.

Bill-304 was defeated by a vote of 155-113.

In expressing his disappointment, Murphy said the inequalities in the availability of autism treatment affect families in every Canadian community and it's time the issue received the attention it deserves from the federal government.

Nevertheless, Murphy said C-304 has played an important role in raising awareness about the urgent need for federal governmental action to address the availability of autism treatments.

"Across the country, the coverage of autism treatments under Medicare differs greatly from province to province," he said. "Autistic children and their families in every province and territory deserve the same access to treatment through the health-care system that is available to rich provinces like Alberta. We will continue to lobby the government to develop a national autism strategy to ensure that happens."

Research released this month by the U.S. Centre for Disease Control shows that as many as one in every 150 children is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Island MP said despite this, many provinces provide little or no funding for expensive treatments like Applied Behavioural Analysis and Intensive Behavioural Intervention.

___________________________

[Andrew Kavchak]

For Immediate Release

February 22, 2007

Autism Bill Defeated but the Campaign for Equal Treatment Will Continue, says MP Shawn Murphy

OTTAWA – Charlottetown Member of Parliament Shawn Murphy today expressed his dismay at the defeat in House of Commons of his Private Member’s Bill, C-304, which would have required the government to produce a national strategy to improve autism across the country. The Bill was defeated by a vote of 155 to 113.

“I am disappointed that all Members of Parliament did not support C-304,” said Mr. Murphy. “The inequalities in the availability of autism treatment affect families in every Canadian community and it is high time that this issue receive the attention that it deserves from the federal government.”

Nevertheless, said Mr. Murphy, C-304 has played an important role in raising awareness about the urgent need for federal governmental action to address the availability of autism treatments. “Across the country, the coverage of autism treatments under Medicare differs greatly from province to province. Autistic children and their families in every province and territory deserve the same access to treatment through the health care system that is available to rich provinces like Alberta. We will continue to lobby the government to develop a national autism strategy to ensure that happens.

Research released this month by the US Centre for Disease Control shows that as many as one in every 150 children is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. Despite this, many provinces provide little or no funding for expensive treatments like Applied Behavioual Analysis and Intensive Behavioual Intervention.

-30-

For further information:

Dirk Druet

Office of Shawn Murphy, M.P.

Cell: (613) 222-2023

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

Pierre Poilievre MP pulls a McGuinty!

It looks like Nepean MP and Treasury Board Parliamentary Secretary is made from the same cloth as Dalton McGuinty.

Ontario opposition leader Dalton McGuinty sent a letter during the last provincial election to Nancy Morrison during the last election stating that the age six cut-off to autism treatment was discriminatory and if he was elected he would remove the cut-off? After he became Premier he instead appealed a court decision that effectively ordered him to fulfill his promise!

When Nepean MP Pierre Poilievre was in opposition he was approached by a number of families with autistic kids, he came to our rallies, spoke at an autism press conference, etc. However, on March 21, 2005 he also had a full page op-ed article of his published in THE HILL TIMES newspaper titled "Birth of a child shouldn't become healthcare roulette: exclusion of autism treatment from Canada's medicare". After accusing the then governing Liberals of "a new and shameful low in Liberal hypocrisy" for their intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Auton case against autistic kids being able to access treatment through Medicare, he went on to say: "So what can be done? We must amend the Health Act so medicare will include effective, scientifically-validated autism treatment for children with autism".

Poilievre had the opportunity to help create a National Autism Strategy and include autism treatment in Medicare by voting to refer Bill C-304 to the Committee stage for examination and review before a vote on Third Reading. Instead, he pulled a McGuinty and along with his Conservative caucus and the Bloc voted against it. Ironically, David McGuinty MP, (Dalton's brother), voted in favour. If these guys really want to understand voter cynicism they need look no further than the mirror.

Cheers!
Andrew Kavchak
Ottawa

[Andrew Kavchak]

Stockwell Day not only spoke at a number of our autism rallies on the Hill in the past and one of the autism press conferences in Parliament, he also sent me a letter when he was in opposition in which he added in his own handwriting that he was now making autism "a priority".

The hypocrisy reminds me of an article I read about in the newspapers ten years ago. I cut the article out and put it on the wall of my office. It was about a study that was done in the U.K. of the psychological characteristics of politicians. The study concluded that what politicians have in common is an ability to lie to people and not feel any discomfort at the pain and suffering they cause to others. The headline was something like "Study finds politicians are psychopaths".

While I am sure that Lord Acton's observation that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is helpful in understanding the steady erosion of integrity and gradual degeneration of politicians from the human species to something else, I also believe that with some politicians it is simply a case of "natural born psychopaths". Previous claims to being preachers of faith notwithstanding.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
Here is the result of the vote in the House of Commons on whether to kill Bill C-304 or send it to the next stage in the approval process (i.e. whether to refer it to the Committee Stage for review). Bill C-304 was killed.

___________________

House of Commons
February 21, 12007
Hansard

Private Members' Business

National Strategy for the Treatment of Autism Act

The House resumed from February 14 consideration of the motion that Bill C-304, An Act to provide for the development of a national strategy for the treatment of autism and to amend the Canada Health Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

The Speaker:

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-304 under private members' business.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division: )

(Division No. 122)

YEAS

Members

Alghabra
Angus
Atamanenko
Bagnell
Bains
Barnes
Beaumier
Bélanger
Bell (Vancouver Island North)
Bevilacqua
Bevington
Black
Blaikie
Bonin
Boshcoff
Brison
Brown (Oakville)
Cannis
Chamberlain
Chan
Charlton
Christopherson
Coderre
Comartin
Cotler
Cullen (Skeena—Bulkley Valley)
Cuzner
D'Amours
Davies
Dhaliwal
Dion
Dryden
Easter
Eyking
Folco
Fry
Godfrey
Godin
Goodale
Graham
Guarnieri
Holland
Ignatieff
Julian
Kadis
Karetak-Lindell
Karygiannis
Keeper
LeBlanc
Lee
MacAulay
Malhi
Maloney
Marleau
Marston
Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca)
Martin (Winnipeg Centre)
Martin (Sault Ste. Marie)
Masse
Mathyssen
Matthews
McCallum
McDonough
McGuinty
McGuire
McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood)
McTeague
Merasty
Minna
Murphy (Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe)
Murphy (Charlottetown)
Nash
Neville
Owen
Pacetti
Patry
Pearson
Peterson
Priddy
Proulx
Ratansi
Redman
Regan
Robillard
Rota
Russell
Savage
Savoie
Scarpaleggia
Scott
Sgro
Siksay
Silva
Simard
Simms
St. Amand
St. Denis
Steckle
Stoffer
Stronach
Szabo
Telegdi
Temelkovski
Thibault (West Nova)
Tonks
Turner
Valley
Volpe
Wasylycia-Leis
Wilfert
Wilson
Wrzesnewskyj
Zed

Total: — 113

NAYS

Members

Abbott
Ablonczy
Albrecht
Allen
Allison
Ambrose
Anders
Anderson
Arthur
Bachand
Baird
Batters
Bellavance
Bernier
Bezan
Blackburn
Blais
Bonsant
Bouchard
Boucher
Bourgeois
Breitkreuz
Brown (Leeds—Grenville)
Brown (Barrie)
Bruinooge
Brunelle
Calkins
Cannan (Kelowna—Lake Country)
Cannon (Pontiac)
Cardin
Carrie
Carrier
Casey
Casson
Chong
Cummins
Davidson
Day
DeBellefeuille
Del Mastro
Demers
Deschamps
Devolin
Doyle
Dykstra
Emerson
Epp
Faille
Fast
Finley
Fitzpatrick
Flaherty
Fletcher
Freeman
Galipeau
Gallant
Gaudet
Gauthier
Goldring
Goodyear
Gourde
Gravel
Grewal
Guay
Guergis
Guimond
Hanger
Harris
Harvey
Hawn
Hearn
Hiebert
Hill
Hinton
Jaffer
Jean
Kamp (Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission)
Keddy (South Shore—St. Margaret's)
Kenney (Calgary Southeast)
Khan
Komarnicki
Kotto
Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Laframboise
Lake
Lauzon
Lavallée
Lemay
Lemieux
Lessard
Lévesque
Lukiwski
Lunn
Lunney
Lussier
MacKay (Central Nova)
MacKenzie
Manning
Mayes
Ménard (Hochelaga)
Ménard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin)
Menzies
Merrifield
Miller
Mills
Moore (Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam)
Moore (Fundy Royal)
Nadeau
Nicholson
Norlock
O'Connor
Obhrai
Oda
Ouellet
Pallister
Paradis
Perron
Petit
Picard
Poilievre
Prentice
Preston
Rajotte
Reid
Richardson
Ritz
Schellenberger
Shipley
Skelton
Smith
Solberg
Sorenson
St-Cyr
St-Hilaire
Stanton
Storseth
Strahl
Sweet
Thibault (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques)
Thompson (New Brunswick Southwest)
Thompson (Wild Rose)
Toews
Trost
Tweed
Van Kesteren
Van Loan
Vellacott
Vincent
Wallace
Wappel
Warawa
Warkentin
Watson
Williams
Yelich

Total: — 155

PAIRED

Members

Barbot
Benoit
Bigras
Clement
Duceppe
Laforest
Lalonde
Malo
Mark
Scheer
Tilson
Verner

Total: — 12

The Speaker:

I declare the motion lost

[Author]

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