Groups gather in Thunder Bay, Toronto to rally for Ontario Autism Program

A group of people gathered at city hall in Thunder Bay yesterday to rally against cuts to the Ontario Autism Program, as well as a delay in the implementation of a new needs-based program.

The group gathered in solidarity with another larger protest taking place yesterday at Queens Park in Toronto, where two representatives from Northwestern Ontario attended.

Sharon Bak, Thunder Bay Family Network President, was one of the representatives at Queens Park on Tuesday.

"We know families across the north are struggling with trying to find service providers, to even get a diagnosis, and we must continue to impress upon the government how vital early intervention is for these children," said Bak in a written statement.

Relentless Part Two

The group of protesters who gathered at city hall yesterday called their rally Relentless Part Two.

"We're here today to put more pressure on the Ford Government for the Ontario Autism Program, we've had numerous delays with this program," said Adrianna Atkins, co founder of Northern Autism Families. 

In February 2019, the Ford Government announced the first change to the Ontario Autism Program, where families would be given a fixed amount of money for therapy based on income and their child's age.

The program was changed again in July, after Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Todd Smith said that the change implemented in February wasn't working.

'We've actually lost decades'

A new need-based Ontario Autism Program was in the works in July, but as of December 2019, the provincial government said the program would not be ready until 2021.

"We've actually lost decades," said Atkins about the delays. 

Members of Northern Autism Families took turns speaking at yesterday's event, and shared concerns over a lack of consistency that they say in turn can hurt the development of children with autism.

"We've lost that service capacity, we've lost diagnostics, we've lost research," she said. "It's been a very tough year for families who have had to decide if they're going to put food in their mouths or if they're going to put their child through therapy."

Another concern that was shared by attendees at the rally was the absence of northern voices in the Ontario Autism Program development process.

Members of Northern Autism Families also shared their dismay over the lack of an emergency plan for northern Ontario, which they say is leaving families in a 'prolonged crisis'.

Alina Cameron, co-founder of Northern Autism Families and member of the Ontario Autism Coalition Board of Directors, said that the new Ontario Autism Program was ten times as bad for people in the north. 

"Thunder bay is kind of a hub, a lot of service providers are based in Thunder Bay and they service a lot of other regions, so our services get spread out even thinner that way," said Cameron. "The other issue is distance...a lot of families have to pay now to get their kids to and from services."

Cameron explained that the allotted budget given to autism families by the government is being 'eaten up' by travel expenses.