Yesterday, April 2, was world autism day. In recognition, I would like to share a message that I received from my constituent Julie Serrurier about the challenges her family is facing.

“France,” she wrote, “we are feeling hopeless; we have gone through both our one-time fundings and all of it was spent on ABA therapy” for my son.

“My child is progressing and thriving!

“But now we have no more funds. This puts a lot of” pressure “on our family. We are put in situations where we need to decide, do we keep paying out of pocket as much as we can afford so we can keep our spot with our therapist.

“If the ministry could give us a timeline then we could plan but we have no clue. It’s mentally exhausting for both me and my husband.

“Also, I’ve been having to fight for support at school for my son! They’ve been removing support. The excuse is there’s no staff and nobody wants the job because it doesn’t pay.”

Speaker, according to a freedom-of-information my office filed, of the 1,564 children enrolled in core clinical services, only 83 are from the northern region. That’s 83 kids, from Parry Sound all the way to the Manitoba border. Is ignoring children with autism and their families the legacy that this government really wants?