“I'm Sad About It. I Wouldn't Have Had to Do What I Did If This

Queen’s Park Today – Daily Report February 7, 2019

Quotation of the day

“I’m sad about it. I wouldn’t have had to do what I did if this government had done things differently.”

Bruce McIntosh, a PC staffer with a son on the autism spectrum, quits over the Ford administration’s changes to autism funding.

Today at Queen’s Park

On the schedule The House is recessed until February 19.

Bruce McIntosh quits over PC’s autism program revamp A PC staffer and prominent advocate for people with autism spectrum disorder quit Wednesday over the Ford government’s changes to autism funding and policy.

Bruce McIntosh, who until yesterday worked for PC MPP Amy Fee, the parliamentary assistant on the file, handed in his resignation as his boss announced changes he says could mean some children who require intensive therapy won’t get the treatment they need.

“I’m sad about it. I wouldn’t have had to do what I did if this government had done things differently,” McIntosh told Queen’s Park Today in a phone interview.

McIntosh has a son on the spectrum and before joining the Tory government last year headed up the Ontario Autism Coalition, a parent-led advocacy group that railed against the previous Liberal regime’s 2016 decision to cut funding for intensive therapy for children aged five and up. After outraged parents protested for months, the Liberals backtracked and McIntosh did a happy dance — literally.

He resigned as Fee and Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod announced a raft of changes. That includes giving funding directly to families instead of to regional agencies, with up to $140,000 (regardless of their needs and depending on what age

they enter the program) to spend on their choice treatment for children from the age of two until their 18th birthday.

But McIntosh says intensive therapy can cost as much as $80,000 a year, so the money pot could dry up fast for families with higher needs.

The PCs say they can wipe out the 23,000-kid long waitlist within 18 months.

The government is doubling funding for the five hubs in charge of diagnosing autism in children, from $2.75 million to $5.5 million over the next two years, with an eye to clearing the backlog of families in line for diagnosis. The current average wait time at the hubs — in Ottawa, Sudbury, Barrie, Hamilton and Toronto — is 31 weeks, according to a backgrounder.

MacLeod said she wants to front-load the money for children under six “because we know early intervention is key.” The program will also be means-tested and MacLeod said households earning $250,000 or more won’t get any money.

McIntosh said giving the same amount of funding to all families ignores individual needs because those on the higher end of the spectrum may not have enough to pay for the treatment they require, while those on the lower end of the spectrum may get more than they need.

He said he tried to raise concerns about age-based funding with his colleagues but felt they fell on deaf ears.

Asked to comment on McIntosh’s resignation, the minister’s office pointed to a tweet from MacLeod’s chief of staff Timothy Porter, which says the plan “satisfies 14 of the 19 demands that would keep [the OAC] from protesting. As for [Bruce McIntosh] — he was informed he could resign in December.”

NDP MPP Monique Taylor, who has been the critic on the file for years and was once booted from the chamber during a raucous debate over Liberal-era autism cuts, said the changes will mean less services for kids with higher needs.

“We need to eliminate wait lists by investing more into autism services, focusing on evidence based solutions that put the needs of kids and their families first — not just redistributing a funding envelope that’s too small to solve the problem,” Taylor said in a release.

Liberal MPP Michael Coteau, who was the minister in charge of the Liberals’ autism program redux in 2017, said it’s clear the PCs didn’t listen to parents.

“Parents told us again and again they did not want this, and experts agreed. This does not come close to providing the funding that is needed for therapy,” he said.

PC MPP Jeremy Roberts — who has an autistic brother and told the Huffington Post the experience spurred his entry into the political arena — said he supports the overhaul.

Fee, a mom to two children on the spectrum, was teary-eyed when speaking about her own family’s experience traversing the system at Wednesday’s announcement.

This is not the first time the Ford team has proposed handing over discretionary funds to parents — during last spring’s election campaign Doug Ford promised a child care tax rebate of up to $6,750 per year that parents could spend on whatever childcare they desire — including nannies, babysitters and licensed and non-licensed child care. Since forming government, the PCs have yet to make a move on the so-called Ontario Childcare Rebate.

Toronto, Brampton, St. Catharines could get province’s first pot shops Ontario’s first pot shops could be in Toronto, Brampton and St. Catharines.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) recently posted public notices for the store applications online, and people have until February 20 to weigh in.

Seyedarash Seyedameri, one of the 25 retail licence lottery winners, has applied to set up a bricks-and-mortar store at 20 Cumberland Street in Toronto’s posh Yorkville neighbourhood.

In Brampton, Clint Seukeran, who owns coconut water company CGS Foods, is hoping to open a store on 186 Main Street.

Over in St. Catharines, a company called The Niagara Herbalist wants to set up shop at 33 Lakeshore Road.

Of the 25 retail licences being doled out this year, five will go to the east region of the province, seven in the west, two in the north, six in the GTA and five in Toronto proper. Private stores must open by April 1 or face steep fines.

Today’s events

February 7 at 10:45 a.m. – Vaughan Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will tour the Maple GO station and hold a news conference.

February 7 at 2 p.m. – Thunder Bay Finance Minister Vic Fedeli will host a pre-budget consultation.

Topics of conversation

● iPolitics spoke to sources and privacy experts that say the NDP’s failure to properly redact identifying information in the leaked documents about the PC’s health-care shakeup led the government to the source. ○ The draft bill given to the NDP included a web URL and a date at the bottom of the page, which is reportedly what helped the government identify the individual it believes leaked the files. ○ Meanwhile, an internal Ministry of Health email to bureaucrats about cracking down on confidentiality was leaked to the CBC. Long live brown envelopes!

● AMAPCEO, the union that represents OPS’s management, administrative and professional employees, told the Globe and Mail some of its members are concerned that the person the government fired for leaking health-care documents to the opposition is not the so-called leaker. They did not elaborate.

● New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs agrees with Premier Doug Ford’s claim that the federal carbon tax will trigger a recession, despite a near consensus of Canadian economists who say that’s baseless.

● U of T’s student rag The Varsity obtained what appears to be leaked government documents outlining which tuition fees are considered “essential” under the Tories’ plan to make certain fees optional. ○ Among other fees, students will not be able to opt out of paying for athletics and recreation, career services, student buildings, health and counselling, academic support, student ID cards, transcripts and convocation, financial aid offices and walk safe programs. ○ According to The Varsity, students will be able to opt out of non-essential fees, such as those supporting the student union and the student newspaper, online while paying tuition. ○ Training, Colleges and Universities Minister Merrilee Fullerton’s office would not address the validity of the documents. “The tuition and ancillary fee guidelines for universities, and the binding policy directive for colleges are being amended to include the Student Choice Initiative. That will be done imminently, and distributed to institutions. I have nothing to add until that time,” spokesperson Stephanie Rea said in an email. ○ NDP colleges and universities critic Chris Glover said the story suggests the PCs are “jeopardizing the support marginalized students receive through groups and programs like campus LGBTQ centres.”

● “What is, Ontario?” A contestant on Tuesday’s episode of Jeopardy won $600 for correctly answering the province over which Premier Doug Ford presides. It isn’t the first

time a Ford has made it on the popular quiz show: in 2014, a clue about the premier’s late brother Rob Ford was worth $800.

News releases — Governmental Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines ● Energy Minister Greg Rickford was in Fort William First Nation Wednesday to re-announce Ontario has directed the Ontario Energy Board to designate NextBridge as the transmitter to build the East-West Tie Line between Thunder Bay and Wawa to meet electricity demands in the north.

Queen's Park Today is written by Sabrina Nanji, reporting from the Queen's Park press gallery.