Christine Moore

[World Autism Awareness Day Act, February 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to speak about this particular issue. When the debate centres on health issues or a bill concerning a health issue, it is always a wonderful opportunity for me, as a nurse, to speak in the House on the subject. We must understand that, unfortunately, autism is a widespread and common condition, a grave condition not only for the person affected, but also for the family and friends of the individual. It is an illness that unfortunately has no cure.

It is a neurological disorder that affects millions of Canadian families, especially children. Autism affects how the brain works and results in behavioural disorders that are more or less severe, depending on the case, an inability to have normal social interactions and communication, and repetitive and very structured behaviours. Symptoms vary in severity from one person to the next and can change over time. There can be a small to moderate improvement depending on the behavioural therapy and assistance provided to the child from a young age, although the symptoms never go away.

It is estimated that 1 in 100 children is affected, which makes autism the most common neurological illness in children. It is more prevalent than childhood cancer, AIDS and diabetes combined. It is estimated that autism affects 35 million people around the world. In Canada, 48,000 children and 144,000 adults have autism. If we factor in family members, friends and people in the circle of those affected, the number of Canadians who have to cope with the consequences of this condition on a daily basis is very high.

At present, we do not know what causes autism, even though some factors or statistical congruences point to certain things. The research is focusing on certain genetic, biological and environmental factors. However, to date, researchers have been unable to determine the causes with certainty or ascertain whether there is a way to treat or prevent this condition. Thus, it truly is an important Canadian health issue and it should definitely be a major national concern.

The symptoms include the lack or absence of socialization and communication. This is manifested in trouble communicating and delayed development of language, which can be more or less serious depending on the severity of symptoms. It should be understood that autistic children are not like other children. Autistic children will not understand other children. They will not understand their interests. They will not understand their behaviour, their games. It is very difficult for autistic children to interact with other children because they do not understand them.

There are also other symptoms. In fact, these children can have severe crises, become agitated, go silent, and act in ways that are incomprehensible to everyone but themselves. It makes family and social life very difficult.

Here is a concrete example. When a 3 year-old child has a severe crisis and becomes violent, the parents are able to cope. However, when a young man of 16, weighing 250 pounds, has a crisis and his mother intervenes, it is much more serious. Parents sometimes get hurt. The child injures the parent, and the parent does not understand why. This has a major impact on families. I wanted to share this concrete example because I believe it is important to understand what parents go through.

There is another important point that needs to be made. Most children without autism—normal children, if I can call them that—do not understand autistic children or the way they behave. It is very hard for them to understand why the next door neighbour, their friend, behaves in a particular way. Consequently, most children are not inclined to socialize with autistic children. This is but another example of a breakdown in the autistic child’s ability to socialize, communicate and interact.

I have spoken about the implications of having an autistic child and how difficult it is for families to cope. Consequently, these families tend to isolate themselves.

Communication with the outside world is almost nonexistent because everything has to be managed to the nth degree. It involves constant care and the parents have a lot of trouble coping. Parents often tend to live in a little bubble. There is so much to do at home that they do not have time to see their friends, to unwind and to think of other things. Their life tends to revolve around the illness.

When the diagnosis is made, the family’s life changes forevermore. When the pediatrician, psychologist or psychiatrist assessing the child diagnoses her with autism, it is understood that the child will have to be looked after for the rest of her life. Even when the child reaches adulthood, she will still require help and support. A family member will have to provide care for the rest of the autistic person's life. This places a huge burden on families.

Let me give a concrete example. When a child starts yelling and flailing about at the supermarket, or when a parent wants to take a child shopping, or to a friend's place, or to see the doctor, and the child throws a tantrum, the parent does something about it. Usually, after one or two attempts—if the parents are capable—the situation is resolved and the child has understood. It is not like that with an autistic child. The crises are unpredictable, and it is impossible to know when they will occur. Moreover, they could occur anywhere.

No one within earshot understands what is going on, nor do they understand why the child is acting out. To outsiders, it seems that the parent of an autistic child has no control and no idea what to do with the child. It is extremely hard to cope with these kinds of situations. Every outing is an adventure and it is impossible to know how the child is going to behave. Everything must be planned to the nth degree. Playing things by ear is not an option; everything must be structured to ensure the best possible outcomes and the least negative consequences for the child. It is extremely hard to find that structure, hence parents' social isolation.

In most cases, when both parents work, life becomes virtually unmanageable. One parent has to stop working and look after the child because it is too big a task. It is no secret that looking after an autistic child requires very specific skills. Unfortunately, I do not think that caregivers are breaking down the doors to go and help the parents of autistic children, because it is really difficult.

The implications for parents, brothers and sisters include burnout, a feeling of isolation, and uncertainty about the future of the child. They have no idea whether the child will be capable of performing a particular task or if the child will one day enjoy some degree of autonomy. There is also a form of discrimination insofar as the other children do not receive the same attention. Things can get really tough, and some parents even commit suicide or attempt to do so. Looking after an autistic child is no mean feat.

This bill proposes a World Autism Awareness Day. No one will vote against the bill because it is a good piece of legislation. It must be passed. Even if the World Autism Awareness Day is instituted, we must go further and take action to encourage research, access to care, support, financial, psychological and family assistance, as well as education and work life skills for people living with autism.

I would ask people to not make do with simply passing this bill. We need to walk the talk and take serious steps to truly relieve what I believe is an excessive burden on families.

I call on my colleagues to support this bill and to follow up with action.

[World Autism Awareness Day Act, February 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, World Autism Awareness Day is a step in the right direction, but I think other steps must follow in terms of funding and awareness.

I would like to know whether my colleague believes the two bills introduced by the hon. member for Sudbury, namely Bill C-218—which would ensure that the cost of applied behavioural analysis and intensive behavioural intervention for autistic persons is covered by the health care insurance plan of every province—and Bill C-219—which provides for the establishment of a national strategy in order to coordinate service delivery for autistic persons—are steps in the right direction to continue the work being done on this disease. I would also like to know whether he then intends to recommend to his Conservative colleagues that they support these two private member's bills.

[National Defence, February 17th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, this government should stop hiding behind its rhetoric and actually answer the questions. If the government truly respects our armed forces and wants to give them the equipment they need, it must start by admitting that the planned budget is not enough to cover 65 F-35s. It will cover 65 planes or some F-35s. The government must make a choice and stop improvising.

If the Conservatives do not have a plan B, can they tell our armed forces how many planes they will get, how much they will cost and when they will be ready?

[National Defence, February 17th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, Canadians would like to see a little more professionalism in the management of the F-35 program. Six of the nine partner countries in the F-35 program have now reduced or postponed their orders. Two other countries are examining the available options before making a final decision. The Conservatives are stubbornly repeating their media lines while our allies are in the process of developing a plan B.

Why does this government insist on being the odd man out and why will it not consider alternative options?

[February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, the government says it has been following the progress of the F-35 closely, yet there have been many problems: runways that are too short, communication systems that do not work in the far north, range capability that is lower and speeds that are slower than the aircraft it is replacing, our CF-18.

The F-35s are slower and cannot go as far, and they are not compatible with our air refuelers. Also, replacing the CF-18s is far too important. As a responsible country, we cannot afford to be without fighter jets or to improvise. A plan B is therefore essential. If we do not need one because everything is fine, that is great. However, if we need one, we should have one. It is crucial that the government come up with a plan B, but it has none.

[February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, on January 30, 2012, and a number of other times since, I asked this government a specific question to find out what its contingency plan is for the F-35 program. Once again, the government is turning a deaf ear.

For months now, we have been learning every day that there are new problems and malfunctions with regard to the F-35s. These technical problems are not so surprising if we consider that the production and construction of these planes were authorized long before the technical trials and test flights were complete.

These test flights are essential for making a number of minor and other more significant adjustments to the plane. They are also essential to avoid having to send a plane back to the plant for adjustments because the test flights were poorly done. Imagine the public safety implications if all of NATO's F-35s were recalled.

The partner and purchaser countries are dropping out one by one: Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey and even the United States are reducing their procurement goals. The Netherlands has suspended its decision, believing that purchasing the F-35s would be irresponsible given the unknown final costs, the inconclusive test flights and the unending delays.

Let us consider the budget forecasts. In the beginning, the Government of Canada estimated that the cost of the aircraft alone would be $75 million per jet. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that the cost will be between $128 million and $146 million per jet. The United States estimates the purchase price of each jet to be $156 million. Allow me to specify that these figures were calculated before the recent announcement that various countries were withdrawing from the program. As a result, we are talking about cost overruns of $3.5 billion to $5.25 billion just to purchase the F-35s.

Unfortunately, money does not grow on trees. Clearly, in order to pay for the F-35s, the government will have to either make cuts to other services or purchase fewer planes. We will not be able to afford them.

Either way, the problem is that our military will have operational problems. Representatives of the Canadian Forces have stated many times in committee that it would be very difficult to have a functional air fleet with fewer than 65 fighter jets. That leaves the option of making cuts to other services, but there comes a point when the government cannot just do whatever it wants. We are going around in circles trying to solve this problem.

It is important to note that every time another country withdraws from the program the price and the cost overruns go up.

Last week, a study showed to what extent the F-35 was not suitable for the needs of the Canadian Forces. Today, a defence expert stated in committee that the Canada first defence strategy is not sustainable or feasible in the long term. The consequences of the government's lack of judgment and chronic lowballing when it comes to military procurement will endanger the capacity of our troops in the near future.

We must review this government's strategy before it is too late, before we are backed into a corner and forced to make a quick decision that is not well thought out. When will we have our plan B?

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, when funding stops, when it is difficult to obtain funding so that the aboriginal culture can continue to be valued and when students are left to their own devices, there is a risk that they will drop out of school, which I emphasized in my speech.

It is important to support schools so that they can provide basic education, but also education about culture that takes into account the cultural specificity of aboriginal communities. This is a major point for consideration if we wish to reduce school dropout rates and increase the standard of living in our aboriginal communities.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, of course I have heard about this partnership. In my speech, I really sought to focus on the concrete results we are currently seeing in communities. I provided an overview of what is currently occurring in my communities and what the problems are. Currently, elementary and secondary school students are not able to go to schools located in their own communities, and I think that this is a major problem that needs to be addressed.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I tried to demonstrate in my speech the link between dropping out of school and being forced to attend a school located outside one's community, a link that is self-evident to me.

Aboriginal students can support and help each other when they are together. They are all in a similar situation. They have grown up in the same culture and are therefore able to help each other. All of a sudden, they go from a small school with approximately 100 to 200 students to, for example, a big high school with 2,000 students, where they are thrown in with a mass of students who do not understand their culture and experiences and do not support them when they face problems that are specific to aboriginal communities. Unfortunately, the easy solution for these students is often to drop out of school.

As far as aboriginals’ use of English is concerned, it is important to understand that it is not their first language and that these children learn a second language. Unfortunately, the French language has a number of subtleties that are difficult to learn. Communities therefore often opt for English given that it is the second language and has fewer subtleties, which makes it a little easier to learn.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when we are dealing with a motion like this one, it is important to link the data to real situations, to what communities actually experience. This is why I will begin by painting a picture of what is going on in aboriginal communities located in my riding.

I want to apologize in advance if my pronunciation of the names of aboriginal schools and communities in Algonquin is not perfect. My objective is to improve my Algonquin language skills during my term, but I am still a beginner.

The first community I want to talk about is Winneway, in eastern Témiscamingue. This is a fairly remote community, where the Amo Ososwan school provides kindergarten to grade 11 education. The teaching is in English and Algonquin. This is the only school in my riding that provides a complete education program, from grade 1 to the end of high school, in the community. At one point, the facility was deemed inadequate, thus posing a health risk to students. Therefore, the decision was made to rebuild the school, but the reconstruction is still not complete.

At the Timiskaming First Nation, the Kiwetin school provides an education up to grade 8. This means that students who want to continue on after grade 8 must either change province to study in English in New Liskeard, located 30 km away, or go to Notre-Dame-du-Nord and complete their education in French.

Further north, in Abitibi, at Pikogan—a reserve close to Amos—the Migwan school is an elementary school where the curriculum is in French, but they also teach Algonquin. After students finish elementary school, they have to go to a provincial high school in Amos. I should point out that Pikogan is really a model that should be followed and promoted for elementary education.

In Wolf Lake, which is another community, very few people live on the reserve. The majority of them live off the reserve. Therefore, children have only one school on the reserve and they must travel to Témiscaming, to another provincial school that provides an education in English and in French.

There is also the Eagle Village—Kipawa community, which has a rather large population of 825. In my riding that is a significant number. At least two-thirds of that population live off the reserve. There is no school there either. Children attend the same school, in Témiscaming, where the teaching is in French and in English. Even though it does not have a school, this community would like to have one.

The main purpose of this motion is to ensure that children have the right to a good-quality education that takes into account their culture. The real problem in the communities in my riding, except in the Longue-Pointe First Nation's Winneway school, is that the children are unable to go to the end of high school without transferring to a provincial school that does not teach the Algonquin culture and does not take into account their reality.

They all have to transfer to another school. In the case of the first nation community in Timiskaming, where the second language is English, the children who want to continue their education are torn. They have to choose between travelling a long way to go to school in English in Ontario—this is an anglophone community—and trying to get by in a French school. This is not an easy choice.

I would like to quote Marguerite Mowatt-Gaudreau, a teacher at the Migwan school in Pikogan, and Gisèle Maheux:

Understanding the language of instruction has been identified as an obvious problem. Many of the students surveyed—29.4% at the elementary school level and 38.8% at the secondary school level—indicated that they understand very few of the teacher's instructions and very little of the information given by the teacher in class, if any at all.

We therefore find ourselves in a situation where, in order to pursue their education, our aboriginal children must transfer to a regular school with all the other children that does not teach the Algonquin culture. They also often face a situation where they do not even understand the teacher's instructions or the work they are given to do, which is an extremely difficult situation to adapt to.

Obviously, this type of situation can lead to a high dropout rate. Mr. Lepage, an education and co-operation officer with Quebec's Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, stated:

Far fewer aboriginal people reach secondary and post-secondary levels of education. Over 40% of aboriginal people did not reach secondary III, as compared to 20% for the rest of Quebeckers. Although the data in this regard are incomplete, we can see that dropping out is a major concern in most aboriginal communities, even at the elementary school level. For example, in some of these communities, the dropout rate is 10% among elementary school students and 50% among secondary III students.

It is extremely disconcerting to think that our young children, who are not even 12, who are 10 or 9, who are already dropping out of school.

The third year of secondary school in communities like mine is often the time when students are forced to leave their school in their aboriginal community to attend provincial public schools. I think this is something we could address. Young people are dropping out just when they have to leave their community school, which teaches the Algonquin culture and language, in order to go into the regular school system. I think this is significant.

As a nurse by profession, I would like to underscore one last thing. The WHO talks about health determinants. One of the major health determinants is poverty and level of education. We all agree that there is a link. People with a very low level of education have a much harder time getting a better-paying job and therefore, unfortunately, they are more likely to live in poverty.

It is imperative to provide aboriginal students with a high-quality education in order for those communities to be viable in the long term. It is essential that our children be able to aspire to have a good job later on. We must not forget that those children are going to share their talents with the community. Aboriginal communities are very close-knit. If a member of the community does well, they will help everyone around them. They will help their family and everyone break the cycle of poverty. I believe it is essential for us to do more in terms of education.

I would like to make a suggestion. If it is not possible to provide an education from grade 1 through to the end of secondary school in aboriginal communities, can we fund the provincial schools so that they can teach Algonquin and aboriginal culture in their provincial programs?