Where do they stand? A look into the MPPs involved with the OAP
As we enter the new consultation process for the OAP, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about where the program may be headed. What I wanted to look at today is a review of some of the key players in the Provincial discussion. In a future article I also plan to address the Federal picture too. A National Autism Strategy seems to be gaining some real traction, so we’ll look at who may help push that in the right direction. Today we begin with the Ontario Provincial Government.
MPP Lisa MacLeod — Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
Rewind back to 2016, and Lisa MacLeod appeared to be an ally to autism families, tweeting with the hashtag #AutismDoesntEndAt5:
Fast forward to 2019, now the Minister Responsible for the autism file, her tone is markedly changed. Watch below as she defended the original version of the program, getting many of her favourite talking points into one clip. At the time she says that “this is the program,” while also accusing the Ontario NDP of “providing false hope that this plan is going to change, and it’s not.” She concludes by doubling-down and saying “this is the plan moving forward.”
This clip also highlights why a lot of families have become fans of Cynthia Mulligan from City News, Toronto.
But as we all know now, “the plan” is no longer the plan, and we now have a new “plan”, or at least a plan to get a plan. Still with me?
In light of the reports of harassment and threats against the Minister, she has become a lot less accessible to the media, and rarely is available for questions. She finally acknowledged that needs of kids with autism vary, stating:
“We have heard from parents and we want to take the time to listen very carefully to their best advice on a needs-based system.”
We certainly hope she’s serious about listening.
I live in Lisa MacLeod’s riding, and have requested a meeting with her to discuss my questions and concerns about the OAP. I have been emailing back and forth with her scheduler, but as I write this, I still don’t have a confirmed appointment time.
MPP Amy Fee — Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services.
Amy Fee’s position is a lot harder to read. She was certainly on the front lines back in 2016, fighting for services for her 2 children on the spectrum.
She stood with Lisa MacLeod on the day of the initial announcement on Feb 6th. She also lost her assistant Bruce McIntosh, former President of the Ontario Autism Coalition, who was not prepared to the “defend the indefensible.”
Amy remained quite silent through the initial backlash period against the changes, and we really didn’t hear a lot from her for a while.
She later appeared to reinforce her support for the program, stating the new model was the best way to deliver the OAP …
“to ensure that we could get children off the waitlist and ensure that we got as many children to access therapy as quickly as possible in the province.”
She also admitted the combined therapy costs for her 2 kids add up to $110,000/year. With both kids being over 5 it means she would only get a combined $10,000 under the new program, but discussed a line of credit and inheritance as sources of potential funding to continue their therapy.
With this much skin in the game, the hope was that she would take a stronger stand against the OAP changes, rather than defend them. Perhaps she played a roll behind the scenes in the enhancements to the OAP, but we have no way to know. She’s certainly heavily involved in the new consultations, so she will be someone to watch in the coming months.
MPP Jeremy Roberts
When Jeremy Roberts first took office, he vowed to make autism services a priority.
It’s also well known that he has a brother, Dillon, with autism. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Dillon, and I have no hesitation in saying that Jeremy Roberts understands the challenges associated with ASD. He would also have a great deal of first-hand knowledge about the type and level of supports people with autism may require, across an extended stretch of time.
He seemed to take a stand back in February when he was seen refusing to applaud for Lisa MacLeod or Doug Ford in Question Period:
Although not officially on the autism file, his role seems to be increasing.
Jeremy Roberts has taken some heat recently about a Facebook post he made on Apr 2nd, that was later edited on Apr 4th to change some wording about potential plans to regulate ABA, as well strategies to train more therapists. Check out the piece below from Scott Corbett that discusses this in more detail:
It’s unclear what triggered the wording change, because Lisa MacLeod did state in the initial announcement that ABA regulation was on the table:
In a recent article, Jeremy Roberts talks about how Premier Doug Ford had an opportunity to meet his brother Dillon, saying “ The premier said to me afterwards … that this was so helpful for him because it helped him better understand where I was coming from when I would talk to him about autism.”
Personally, I consider Jeremy Roberts a strong ally in this fight, and suspect he’s done a lot more in the background than he’s getting credit for. I would certainly welcome him having a bigger role on the autism file, and feel hopeful having him involved in this conversation.
At the end of the day, Lisa MacLeod is the Minister in charge of the program.
I hope that the right people will be invited to the table during consultations.
I hope that Lisa MacLeod will listen.
In the meantime, I strongly urge everyone to reach out to their MPPs and request to be a part of the conversation as well. The more voices we have asking for meaningful change to the program the better.
We’re pointed in the right direction, but until we have a stronger needs-based foundation, we’re not there yet.
