Attention! Attention! Bill C-360 is finally here!

The autism community now has a new Private Members' Bill in the House of Commons to lobby their MPs about. Please consider contacting Glenn Thibeault to thank him for tabling the bill and tell him about what it means to your family and the community. Plese also contact your MP and asking them to make a clear statement in support of this bill and post it on their website.

Also, please contact each and every autism organization and ask them to post news about this bill on their website along with a clear unequivocal statement expressing their position on the bill. Do they support it or don't they? If they do support it, would they consider a campaign to lobby MPs to support it? Many autism organizations all over the country distribute awareness pins, etc. but how about engaging in something like this which could potentially help our kids and future generations big time?

Let's get Bill C-360 debated at second reading and passed at a vote to refer it to the Standing Committee on Health so that they can (finally) hold some hearings into ASD and Medicare. To become law, the Bill would then have to go for a third reading and vote in the House, followed by a similar process in the Senate, followed by Royal Assent (GG's signature).

The last time a similar bill from Shawn Murphy was tabled in the House we had some interesting debate at second reading, followed by the negative vote which killed the bill before it even got to the committee review stage.

The vote not only recorded in Hansard who are our allies, and who are the shameless politicians (I'm thinking in particular of all the Bloc who voted against it and the Andy Scott Motion for a National Autism Strategy, and the Conservatives who voted for the Motion - which is not binding as a motion is not law - and then voted against the bill - which ultimately reveals the two-faced hypocrisy of some politicians). It also provided an opportunity for Mike Lake to reveal his true colours as he issued an open letter explaining why he was voting against Shawn Murnphy's bill which would have resulted in autism treatment being covered by public health insurance (even though he himself has a non-verbal son with autism that he has brought out for photo ops). For those of you who are new to the struggle, FEAT of BC published an annotation to the letter on their website which is recommended reading. See: http://featbc.org/downloads/FEATBC_release_02_26_07.pdf

This time the autism community should lobby our politicians to push the bill past second reading and refer it to the Standing Health Committee for clause by clause review as soon as possible.

The Health Committee should be bombarded by the autism community with messages outlining the nature of the problem and demanding passage of the bill and comprehensive action and leadership by the federal government.

Even though this minority government may not last for five years, we are lucky that it is tabled relatively early in this government's mandate. The reality is that any advancement by the bill and any report issued by the Standing Committee on Health could potentially help advance the cause (in the long term). The House Standing Committee on Health's agenda has an influence on the government and what eventually may get done (or not done). At a minimum, it may prove to be another useful tool to refer to in the future, as the Senate Committee report "Pay Now or Pay Later". Our community should use all its resources to shape and influence the future and outcome of Bill C-360.

All hands on deck! Let's get Bill C-360 moving!
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House of Commons
Hansard
Friday, April 3, 2009.

Routine Proceedinds

Canada Health Act

Mr. Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury, NDP) moved for leave to introduce Bill C-360, An Act to amend the Canada Health Act (Autism Spectrum Disorder).

He said: Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the seconder of this bill, the hon. member for Nickel Belt.

I am pleased today to introduce this private member's bill, an act to amend the Canada Health Act, and to look at how we can include autism spectrum disorder in it.

Yesterday was World Autism Awareness Day. I still wear my awareness pin proudly. We as parliamentarians need to work together to provide individuals with ASD and their families with the right supports. IBI training is a step in the right direction, but we need a national strategy.

I look forward to the day when all parties can stand together and show our support for individuals and families dealing with autism.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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