Okay.
We got Alex into the 30-hour program. He went through this program. In January of last year he was taken out of the IBI program and dropped into regular school, which hasn't helped him at all.
Other parents couldn't have gotten their children to go to this program. Other parents haven't gotten their children to. I have a letter here from a reverend who was in my home community at the same time, and he got so frustrated with the system that he moved his entire practice to Manitoba. He sent me a letter for you to read. It's attached. It's the last two pages.
When Carol called me in November asking me if I'd speak, I was quite shocked. I spoke to a lot of my friends in Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and all over the place about autism and about what I was asked to do, and they all encouraged me to come here. That's why I'm here.
At the end of the day, most people I speak with want the Canada Health Act to adopt autism. That's the bottom line that we can see helping. Provincially, there are programs all over—in Nova Scotia or Manitoba—that are different. That shouldn't happen. All these children are Canadian.
I've met with Senator Jim Munson. He came to Espanola and spoke with me and several other parents. His statement was, “Pay now or pay later.” Is paying later an option? I am going to pass on. My daughter is going to pass on. What's going to happen to my grandson then? Those are the realities out there. So many parents are afraid of that happening.
I co-created a social group called Coffee Chat. I've created one in Espanola, and that's where parents just go to sit down once a month for an hour or an hour and a half and chit-chat with each other. Everybody is just so afraid of what's going to happen in the future.
As you can see, there's other information in the package I've passed out to the committee, but the big thing we want to see is a change in the Health Act.