Parents of autistic children in northwestern Ontario are hoping the Ford government will take action following a day of rallies Tuesday.
Protests were held at Queen’s Park and in Thunder Bay by the group Northern Autism Families Matter.
Spokesperson Alina Cameron wants to see the province take action to immediately improve autism services in Ontario.
“Pressure and bad P.R. is the one thing the Ford government doesn’t like and they usually respond with something so that’s our goal.”
Cameron says a provincial one-time interim payment for families is inefficient.
“Up here people spend vast amounts of money travelling to get to services that are very sparse to find. There’s a big short of Francophone services as well in the North and that’s a big issue.”
The families say the “fragility of the programming currently in place is problematic” and changes need to be made immediately.
Cameron notes their voice is getting louder and they aren’t going anywhere so it’s in the best of the government to come talk to them.
