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OAC at McGuinty/Wynne Campaign Event Sept 9 2007
The OAC attended the Liberal Campaign Kickoff at Marc Garneau High School in Toronto and asked the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education about the $10N platform plank for IBI in schools..
Transcript—Sunday, September 9, 2007
CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE SMITHERMAN
Laura Kirby-McIntosh (LKM): Can I ask you a question?
George Smitherman (GS): OK
LKM: Is autism a health issue?
GS: It’s not, uh…some people say yes, so I won’t say yes or no, but for the purposes of programming it’s not managed by the Ministry of Health, so…formally or officially…no. But some people would have, uh…you know.
LKM: O.K. Do you have any insight into the promise that’s on page 7 of your platform that says there’s $10 million to be allocated to prepare to do IBI in schools? Because I read that last night and it will have a huge impact on how I vote, so…
GS: No, I don’t…Over the course of the campaign, each of these announcements will be more enumerated, and more detail will be offered alongside it…so if you continue to monitor information that’s on the…uh…party’s website that there will be I’m sure, more information along that line. Or there will be places where you can inquire about that. I should know, but I don’t
LKM: Is there ever a possibility my son can to take his IBI therapist to school?
GS: Well I’ve just answered the question, which indicates that I don’t know enough, and so I certainly wouldn’t be able to address that one.
LKM: O.K., well, thanks for talking to me.
GS: We’re trying to build those capacities within the school but I’m not sure how you merge back and forth.
LKM: O.K. Thank you.
CONVERSATION WITH KATHLEEN WYNNE
LKM: Can I ask you a question?
Kathleen Wynne: Yes, yes. Is this about the 10 million?
LKM: Yes.
LKM: Yea. In your platform…
KW: So here’s the thing.
LKM: Does this (pointing to p. 7 of Liberal platform) mean what I’m praying and hoping it means?
KW: It means it could be in schools.
LKM: So it’s possible?
KW: Absolutely. Absolutely.
LKM: So if you’re re-elected…my kid can maybe take his I.T. to school?
KW: Yea. What I wanna do is, I want to have models…now, it’s not going to be in every school…
LKM: O.K.
KW: What’s your name?
LKM: Laura. Hi.
KW: Have we met before?
LKM: We have.
KW: Yea. That’s what I thought.
KW: It doesn’t mean in every school, Laura, but what I want is for there to be a continuum of service…
LKM: Right…I’ve heard that phrase before.
KW: …so that a board can place a child in the appropriate placement. That’s all I’m looking for. OK?
LKM: O.K. I’m really…this is a huge issue for me and how I vote.
KW: It would be dishonest …
LKM: Yea.
KW: …for us to say, you know, with whatever amount of money, because I don’t know what the amount of money would be, we’re going to provide every single service for kids with autism in every single school in the province. So, I’m looking for that range of service…yes, it could mean
