Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to speak to this legislation and to second it. I appreciate the work done by the hon. member for Charlottetown to bring the bill to the House. I would also like to thank the Senate for the great work it has done on this legislation.
A day to mark autism awareness has never been more important here in Canada.
If we go back just six years ago, autism was not recognized as the problem it is today. A 2003 study estimated that approximately 1 in 450 Canadians suffered from one of the various forms of autism. That would be about 67,000 Canadians across Canada.
The worst thing about this mysterious condition, however, is that this number is higher among children and it is increasing every year. In fact, the Autism Society of Canada reported there has been a steep rise in the number of cases in the three provinces that monitor these numbers closely: Saskatchewan, Quebec and my own province of British Columbia. A children's hospital study in Montreal put the number at around 1 in every 147 children. According to a study in the U.S., it used to be around 1 in every 150 kids but now the number may be closer to 1 in 100.
Such a big change; such a huge increase in only six years.
As a Senate study makes clear, the reasons for this increase are difficult to pinpoint. In many respects, it could be because the very definition of autism has now become much wider. It is true there is now more exposure in the media for such mysterious forms as Asperger syndrome.
The truth is that we would not have to knock on many doors in almost every neighbourhood in Canada before we would find a family that is now trying to cope with autism. That family may be struggling with the mysteries of autism and the huge toll it can take on their day to day lives.
In fact, within my own community, Louise Witt and Amber Himmelright have quite a lot to say about what the Government of Canada is doing about autism, or should I say not doing.
When the Conservatives first came into office they talked a good game about a national autism strategy. They knew what Canadian families were saying about the kind of sacrifice autism required.
I have three children of my own and I can tell members that I feel fortunate that I am one of the few Canadians who might not be faced with a threat of personal bankruptcy if just either my boy, Arjan, or one of my daughters, Keerat or Joat, was diagnosed. It is not uncommon for families to pay more than $60,000 a year, and that is just for the basic treatment.
The worst thing is that the cost for effective treatment also varies widely from province to province. Imagine how heartbreaking it would be for someone to realize that if he or she lived in another part of the country or if they only had more money their child would get the needed care.
The government has known these facts for some time but, as I said, the government did what it normally does. It leads with communications and then real action limps along later, sometimes much later.
Two years ago, the government announced a website to give families information and $1 million over five years to set up a research chair. There is still no research chair and that website is not much to speak about either.
We could say that the government had to cut back on plans with the state of the deficit being what it is, the deficit it could not see and then denied for as long as it could. Perhaps the government realized it could not fulfill the promise it made to thousands of families across this country who are looking for real leadership and who are waiting for a real plan.
It is a difficult conversation the government must be having with those families now. Louise Witt will say that there are many who must bring professional therapists up from the U.S. because they cannot find these special services in Canada. In my own riding, in all of Surrey and Delta, there are only a handful of trained therapists, and they are overbooked for months in advance as it is.
The worst thing is, whether it is in Surrey or Delta or whether the therapist comes from the states, there is so little health care coverage that the bill breaks the bank anyway.
It is also difficult for the government to talk about other promises on autism, like the stakeholder symposium. Again, as Ms. Witt said, the symposium was held in secret. It was only for hand-picked invitees, those who would probably go easy on the government and downplay the kind of support families need.
All of that does not matter though, because no one can tell us what came out of this symposium anyway. We would be waiting a long time to hear from the government. Maybe it did not like what it heard and is afraid to act upon it.
All of that said, this bill is in some small measure a way to put autism back on the national agenda. If awareness can get people talking, it might get the government to listen.
For the families who are facing bankruptcy, who are forced to put their children in foster homes because they cannot afford the day-to-day support, and for the parents who are trying every possible medical breakthrough they can in the hopes of seeing their children able to cope with this affliction, awareness is only a first step but it is an important one.
That is why I ask all members of Parliament to support this bill.