Did Justin Trudeau just commit to a National Autism Strategy?
In an unexpected development, the push for a National Autism Strategy was reinvigorated Friday night.
It started with this tweet from CASDA (the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance):
Tagged in the tweet were:
- Delta MP Carla Qualtrough, who is the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion
- Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN).
PAFN was holding a fundraising luncheon that day, and it was discovered that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided a video message that was played there. A partial clip of the video was posted on Twitter by someone who looked to be in attendance:
The clip is incomplete, but starts with the PM saying:
“…develop and implement a National Autism Strategy, and together we’re going to keep finding new ways to make sure that every family has the chance to succeed and thrive.”
The video quickly circulated amongst autism advocates.
Senator Munson has been at the foundation of the National Autism Strategy push, dating back to the 2007 senate report: Pay Now or Pay Later: Autism Families in Crisis.
Minister Qualtrough confirmed her attendance at the luncheon, responding to Senator Munson with this hopeful tweet:
It’s not much to go on yet, but the 2 main takeaways:
- The Prime Minister used the words “National Autism Strategy.” Many of his LPC MPs have been supporters of a strategy for a while, but I think this was the first time I’ve heard the PM use the phrase directly.
- Minister Qualtrough seems invested in moving forward on this.
There is much work to do, but this video message provided a nice spark for national strategy advocates.
