McGuinty's $2.4 Million Broken Autism Promise

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"success is largely about keeping your promises."

[Seth Godin's BLOG]

Forced by the courts to fess up the government of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has admitted that it spent $2.4 million in court costs fighting parents who were seeking the help for their autistic children that Mr. McGuinty promised on the campaign trail. Unfortunately Mr. McGuinty's actions were not unprecedented. In British Columbia Liberal leader Gordon Campbell condemned the decision by the NDP government of the day to appeal the Auton decision. Then, within 90 days of forming the government, the Campbell Liberals announced that its government would press on with the appeal in order to avoid setting a bad legal precedent. Apparently neither Mr. McGuinty, nor Mr. Campbell, considered the moral precedents they were setting by breaking their promises to the parents of autistic children. Is it any wonder that Autism parents have decided to GET POLITICAL and target swing ridings in the impending federal election? The Supreme Court of Canada has removed the Canadian Constitution as a meaningful protection for autistic children. And the Liberal Premiers of two of Canada's most populous and prosperous provinces have shown that their word can not be trusted. Political activity, hard cold, ruthless if necessary, political activity is all that is left for parents of autistic children seeking access to health, education and residential care services for their children.

NDP outraged over McGuinty's $2.4 million broken promise

    QUEEN'S PARK, July 17 /CNW/ - NDP MPP Shelley Martel is outraged that the
McGuinty government spent $2.4 million on lawyers to fight parents of children
with autism in court, instead of providing IBI treatment that Dalton McGuinty
promised them.
  "It's scandalous that Dalton McGuinty squandered $2.4 million of public
money on lawyers in a cynical attempt to break an election promise made to
children with autism. That money could have funded IBI treatment for
50 children for a year," said Martel.
  Martel said Dalton McGuinty should never have dragged parents and their
vulnerable children through the courts, at great expense to the public and the
families, just so he could break a promise.
  "It's appalling that Dalton McGuinty's priority was to waste millions of
dollars of public money fighting parents in court, instead of providing
children with autism with the treatment they needed," said Martel.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2007/17/c7369.html