LONDON, Ont. —
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory vowed today to invest an additional
$75-million a year to help children with autism by unclogging the long waiting
list for treatment.
Mr. Tory said the waiting list for treatment has
soared to 1,000 children today from just 89 four years ago. He highlighted the
enormous emotional, physical and financial strain this places on families by
making the announcement at a daycare centre in London, Ont., where he was
flanked by several parents of autistic children and seven-year-old Madi Gensen.
Madi’s mother, Leela, told Mr. Tory at a roundtable
session before the announcement that her daughter was not diagnosed with autism
until she was two-and-a-half.
But she said she knew well before then that
something was wrong with her daughter, who used to spend 12 to 14 hours a day
humming and screaming, Ms. Gensen said.
“Steve and I thought we were going crazy,” she said,
referring to her husband.
Mr. Tory, who said he knew nothing about autism
until he became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party three years
ago.
But once in office, he said, he began learning about
the disease by talking to parents of autistic children.
“I’ve seen the immense challenge represented by
this,” he told reporters.
In announcing the additional funding, Mr. Tory was
turning the focus of his campaign onto another broken promise by Liberal Leader
Dalton McGuinty.
Mr. Tory said that Mr. McGuinty promised just before
the 2003 campaign that he would provide treatment for children over the age of
six if the Liberals won the election.
“Like with so many of his other promises, Dalton
McGuinty failed to follow through,” Mr. Tory said.
He said a Conservative Government would work with
educators, child support workers and school boards to ensure that school-age
children get the support they need. He conceded that he would have to “work out”
how this would be done with educators.
“But I’m confident there isn’t a teacher in Ontario
who won’t want to work with the parents and with the government to make sure
that can happen,” he told reporters.
The Liberals have come under fire for delaying their
promise to end the previous Tory government’s practice of cutting off funding
for Intensive Behavioural Intervention when children turned six.
The Liberals have said they plan to introduce
additional special education reforms to expand support for students with autism.
These include providing training to help school principals and teachers deal
with children with autism.