Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to present a petition on the subject of autism spectrum disorder. This terrible and life destroying condition affects one Canadian child in 195, and it is because of the grave importance of this issue that hon. members from all parties have been presenting petitions on this subject over the course of the past week.
This petition draws the attention of the House to the length of waiting lists for intensive behaviour intervention therapy. This therapy can be life changing, but it only works if it is done early. In some provinces parents face waiting lists of a year or more and therefore must purchase the therapy privately or lose their children to autism.
As a concluding remark, I note that in addition to the petition I am presenting today, which went through the proper channels, I am in possession of an online petition containing several thousand additional names. This second petition is not admissible under House rules, but if there were unanimous consent, I would like to introduce this as well.