[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

Today, a prominent autism blog in New Brunswick ('Facing Autism in New Brunswick')
posted a message regarding Alberta MP Mike Lake’s opportunistic betrayal of our children, via his widely disseminated, written endorsement of the Conservative's vote to kill Bill C-304’s next step. This would have been to send the Bill to a parliamentary Committee for a detailed review of the need to establish a National Autism Strategy, and also the need to get medically necessary autism treatment under Medicare, to fill the huge healthcare gap.

The New Brunswick autism blog entry is at this address: http://tinyurl.com/348rex

Isaac

[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

On February 21, 2007, the Conservative Government of Canada chose to kill a Bill in Parliament that would have, at long last, brought the provinces and the Federal Government together in meaningful consultation to craft a National Autism Strategy which would have effectively dealt with the long-neglected, runaway autism crisis in Canada. The Conservatives killed Bill C-304, even before a parliamentary committee could properly study the merits of the proposed legislation. In my view, this is very poor governance.

In stark contrast to the seemingly permanent, ingrained autism healthcare neglect in Ottawa, we can only marvel at the U.S. approach to autism, where their federal government recently approved a new law entitled the 'Combating Autism Act', with an appropriated budget of close to US$1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars), designated for better autism treatment and research. In Canada, what we had in play for our children at the same time was Bill C-304. This proposed legislation could have fixed the anachronism that is the Canada Health Act's systemic exclusion from Medicare of all children afflicted with autism.

With this information as background, I would like to direct the attention of our group to Alberta MP Mike Lake, who issued a "media statement" (at the behest of federal government spin doctors, we think) on the day of the important vote on Bill C-304, explaining why he, as the father of a child with autism, was nevertheless compelled to quash proposed federal legislation that would have significantly improved the lives of children afflicted with autism across all of Canada. Notably, Bill C-304's healthcare legislation would have helped children with autism in provinces that are FAR less fortunate than Alberta, where the provincial government has provided publicly funded autism treatment to families, such as Mike Lake's, for many years.

FEAT of BC has issued a response to Ottawa's ongoing refusal to provide autism health care under Medicare for children; an analysis of why the Conservatives and MP Mike Lake were wrong in killing Bill C-304 is at this address:

–> https://featbc.org/downloads/FEATBC_release_02_26_07.pdf

[Isaac]

Failure of autism bill disappoints parents

By Tracy Holmes
Staff Reporter
Feb 23 2007

Altering act would threaten health care: MP

The Conservatives will pay politically for quashing a proposal to include autism treatment in the Canada Health Act, parents warn.

“We know who they are, we know what ridings they’re in, and we’ll be watching,” Jean Lewis, director of B.C. Families for Early Autism Treatment, said Thursday.

“There’s a political price for this.”

Lewis was responding to results of Wednesday’s 155-113 vote against Bill C-304. The bill, introduced last spring by Liberal MP Shawn Murphy, called for development of a national strategy for the treatment of autism, and to amend the Canada Health Act to cover two forms of treatment: applied behavioural analysis and intensive behavioural intervention.

Parents have fought for years to have cost of the pricey treatments – proven successful in 40 per cent of autistic children – covered.

South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale Conservative MP Russ Hiebert said Thursday he could not support the “flawed” bill.

Adding autism to the Canada Health Act would undermine integrity of the Act and threaten the health care system, Hiebert wrote in an email to The Peace Arch News.

“Canada’s Constitution clearly indicates that the provinces alone are responsible for deciding what medical services to fund,” he wrote.

“This is why no disorders or diseases are named in the Canada Health Act – cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Downs Syndrome are not named, and neither is autism.

“I remain firmly committed to the effort to better understand and treat autism, but Bill C-304 would not have achieved this goal.”

Lewis disagreed, accusing Hiebert of voting against the country’s most disabled residents.

She noted treatment for the other conditions Hiebert listed is already covered.

South Surrey parent Debra Antifaev noted after the vote that even removal of an ingrown toenail is covered by medical.

“Why deny people treatment if you’ve got something that works most of the time?” she said.

Lewis said: “The only solution to a health care crisis is to have it dealt with, to put treatment into medicare.

“The U.S. have allocated $1 billion unanimously to the treatment, education and research of the combat and struggle of autism. In this country, we’re doing nothing. Shame.”

Hiebert said he fully supports “everything that can be done to help those suffering from autism,” pointing to his backing late last year of a motion by Liberal MP Andy Scott to create a national autism strategy. Hiebert proposed amendments to include additional funding for research into autism.

Parents at the time described the plan as “a slap in the face” that did nothing to address providing treatment. Antifaev Thursday maintained immediate action is necessary.

“We’ve done a huge study. Let’s implement the best treatment to date, and then keep studying,” she said.

[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

Here's the update on Bill C-304 (an Act to include children with autism in Medicare and create a National Autism Strategy).

With the exception of Liberal Tom Wappel (who voted against the Bill), all MPs present in the House voted along party lines.

Please click on this link –> https://featbc.org/downloads/Bill_C304_Vote.html, to see how your MP voted on Bill C-304 and how many times (or whether) he/she tabled the autism petition in the House of Commons, which asks that children afflicted with autism be rightly included in Canada's Medicare.

What's quite extraordinary about the stats is that the MP who has tabled the autism petition in Parliament the MOST (10 times! Mark Warawa, Langley BC) actually voted AGAINST Bill C-304, which would have precisely achieved what the 10 petitions he tabled had asked of government! How is it that the character of a man can so profoundly change from the time he is a member of the Opposition, to the time he joins the heady realm of government, as Parliamentary Secretary to a Minister?

In a contest between voting one's principles or getting summarily tossed out of cabinet, clearly cognitive dissonance trumps the dusty concept of morality — it's a relative notion. That's what's wrong with our parliamentary system folks: if your MP is Conservative, he or she is wholly owned by the current Prime Minister (you just THINK your MP actually works for you).

Please note when reading the table linked above that the term "Paired" means either the MP was traveling outside the country and had arranged for a member of an opposing member to sit out, or that the MP had been ordered by his or her party Whip to sit out of the vote. In this case, it would appear that the pairs of government and opposing members would have all voted against the bill.

Isaac

[Isaac]

First, I would like to thank Andrew (very much) for the time and effort consistently put into keeping our group apprised of the important, autism related action happening in Ottawa.

It's very much appreciated!

Also, I would like to speak to autism treatment Bill C-304: this is unprecedented.

The implications of the Bill, for children afflicted with this terrible disorder, are enormous. As Andrew noted in his post to our group, Bill C-304 is a landmark, pivot-point event vis-à-vis how neurological disorders should be addressed by the health care insurance system in Canada, i.e., autism must be ON A PAR with physical disorders.

As Andrew has suggested, (and I will do same tomorrow morning) please contact your local member of parliament to let the MP know how strongly you feel about passing autism treatment Bill C-304. This legislation, if enacted, would at long last establish health care parity in Canada, meaning that so-called "universal" health care will actually BE universal, meaning that access to health care insurance is for EVERYONE, including children afflicted with the neurological disorder of autism.

On a closing note, for the many government lurkers who weekly check out the FEAT-BC forum (and yes, we do check IPs), I would like to offer this thought: please ponder the fact that for every child afflicted with autism, there are — based on my assessment — at minimum 12 to 15 issue-based voters that are taking careful autism notes for the next election (i.e., 2 parents, 4 grandparents, siblings of parents, cousins, concerned friends, and so on). And, the U.S. C.D.C. now puts the numbers at 1 in 150 children afflicted! That's a lot of votes, albeit political damage that's under the radar, for now.

The math is quite clear, for any politician who cares to notice. In a close election, in hotly contested swing ridings, the new, sizable autism sphere of influence can conceivably decide elections.

Please let your MP know that you're a one-issue voter … you want Bill C-304 to become law, and you (and everyone you know!) will vote accordingly in the next election.

Isaac

[Isaac]

Hello Everyone,

An interesting article is in the Vernon Morning Star: 'Art Knapp owner aids autism with Sounds of Christmas CD … benefiting Families for Early Autism of B.C.'

The piece states that, "the results so far have been positive with 1,500 copies selling within the first three weeks …"

The article is at this link: http://tinyurl.com/yxhhkd

Isaac

[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

Important events are unfolding in Ottawa.

There's a raging debate happening in Parliament over proposed legislation that would, at long last, end the autism treatment vacuum in Canada. It's about whether children afflicted with this debilitating disorder should be covered under Medicare, for their medically necessary treatment.

Courtesy of our man in Ottawa (Andrew Kavchak), I would like to share the Hansard record of December 7, 2006 with our group. It's a fascinating read, and highly recommended. Click on the link below for a front-row seat to the debate.

–> https://featbc.org/downloads/Hansard_12_07_06.pdf

Isaac

[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

The autism wars are in the news, again. Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/y8axy4

Isaac

[Isaac]

Hello everyone,

Mr. Garth Turner, Member of Parliament, has produced an 8-minute video piece about the recent autism rally in Ottawa. If you've not had a chance to watch this one yet, I'd set aside the eight minutes to do so — it's well worth the time. This is grass roots, unfiltered Internet journalism at its best, in my view.

The link to the video clip is below.

http://tinyurl.com/yh97sq

Jennifer Ralph, a member of the FEAT-BC delegation that traveled to Ottawa for this rally, gives Mr. Turner a wonderful interview in the clip. Also, Peter Stoffer, MP, offers up a gem of a quote, that I'm compelled to reprint here in advance, before you sit back and enjoy the rest of the interview: "I remind Mr. Clement, [that] he only won his seat by 29 votes the last time. He is the Health Minister of Canada, and he can make this happen [autism treatment under Medicare] with the stroke of a pen, if he really wanted to."

Quite true.

The stroke of a minister’s pen is all it would take to change the regulations that enable and enforce the Canada Health Act, so that autism treatment is covered by health insurance.

Do check out the video clip, and please ask your MP to support the upcoming Stoffer autism motion and the autism bills that are currently in the House of Parliament. Garth Turner informs (on video tape!) that he's voting in favour of our kids next week, but he's also asking for some help from us, to convince a few of his more recalcitrant compatriots in Ottawa to do likewise.

Isaac

[Isaac]

MP Murphy calls for a national autism strategy
*******************************************************

Shawn Murphy, MP, states:

"There has to be a national [autism] strategy … Right now we have tremendous differences between what is offered in British Columbia, what is offered in Alberta and Ontario and what is offered in some of the Atlantic regions … It's mind-boggling, the difference. This is a health issue. It's not a social services issue. It's a health issue. And it should be treated as such under the Canada Health Act."

It's comforting to know that at least some politicians in Ottawa are starting to get the key point that medically necessary autism treatment is, in fact, a health issue that should no longer be the purview of demonstrably incompetent provincial social services ministries across the country.

The reality for children afflicted with autism in Canada is that the social services model does not work, continues to fail and has created a national patchwork of autism services. This has caused — and continues to cause — the migration of families from one province to another, all in the search of adequate, publicly funded autism healthcare!

The Canada Health Act was supposed to prevent all of that.

Isaac

_________________________________________
Note: The full CBC piece on MP Murphy's thoughts is available via the link below:

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/11/29/autism-strategy.html

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