Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
An Ontario mother, who had been holding a one-woman protest for the past week to try to get help with her son's autism care, will finally have her file looked at after a call from the social services minister.
Stacy Kennedy staged a sit-in outside of the Premier Doug Ford’s office in an effort to get better access to autism funding and services for her 10-year-old son, Sam.
Kennedy told CTV National News she decided to protest with the hopes of opening a dialogue with the provincial government about how desperate families of children with autism are for help.
"We took the word of this government and Doug Ford, we took the word of most government’s that you’ll actual take care of us and I’m here to say that’s not happening and its woefully unacceptable," Kennedy said.
After seven days of sitting in the office's parking lot and sleeping in her van, Ford finally responded to Kennedy's protests, but it took a question from CTV News at a press conference to do so.
"Stacy, I will make sure that we reach out to you [and] have a good conversation," Ford said Wednesday.
Kennedy said Ford called her later Wednesday and agreed to have an in-person conversation about issues with the government’s new autism program.
"There was a lot of sound bites, a lot of staying on point," Kennedy said of the call.
Kennedy said Ford’s office will schedule a time for them to meet at a later date.
In addition, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Merrilee Fullerton, who is in charge of the autism file, called Kennedy Thursday.
Kennedy said the minister was sympathetic and agreed to look at her file. She explained that Sam has been on the waitlist for four years to receive full access to the province's autism programs.
While such barriers are frustrating, Kennedy says parents of children with autism have “no choice" but to try to navigate them.
"These are the roadblocks that have been thrown in front of us. I just want the average Canadian to understand how horrifying they are -- that I literally had to sit in my van for someone to make things move," Kennedy said.
"That’s atrocious, it's cruel, it’s callus, it's a scandal."
Angela Brandt, president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said Kennedy's concerns speak for the entire autism community.
"It’s so sad that this is the extent she had to go to in order to be heard, just to be heard," Brandt told CTV News.
Ontario's new autism program has been widely criticised and slow to roll out. Advocates estimate 40,000 families are waiting to receive access to full funding and therapy services.
Most families are currently offered one-time funding of $5,000, but experts say that isn't much help for those paying $40,000 to $80,000 a year for services.
"This $5,000 payment… it's an interim payment, it is not access to therapy, so they are still on a waitlist because they are not accessing therapy," Brandt said.
"The Ontario autism program is a treatment program. It’s not a subsidy program, so if they’re not accessing treatment, they’re on a waitlist," she added.
After speaking with the premier and the minister, Kennedy ended her sit-in on Thursday. However, she acknowledges that the fight is not over.
If the provincial government doesn't make good on its word, Kennedy said she will be back protesting in front of the premier's office.
"I don’t want to do more talking, I want to see more action, not just for my son, but for everyone," she said.
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
As temperatures rise out of a mild El Nino winter, Canada's buggy season is already upon us again, and this year, the bugs are looking especially big.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller tabled legislation today that is intended to extend citizenship to some children born outside of the country.
WestJet Airlines plans to launch a new cheaper fare category that would be available to travellers willing to fly without a carry-on bag.
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Police say they have wrapped up their on-scene investigation into a deadly boat crash in eastern Ontario as details of the incident begin to emerge.
Plenty of people are wondering if Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are having problems in their marriage, but one person had the nerve to ask in a public forum.
The U.S. Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation Entertainment on Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America -- squelching competition and driving up prices for fans.
Eating more ultraprocessed foods is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and stroke, even if a person is trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet or the MIND diet, a new study found.
When Jujhar Mann said he wanted to be a pastry chef on a grade school career project, he didn't imagine that pursuing his dream would land him on a popular Netflix baking competition.
A city known for its history, ties to outer space and southern barbecue, is also home to a Winnipeg chef dishing out dozens of perogies.
A Montreal photographer captured the moment a Canada goose defended itself from a fox at the Botanical Garden.
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.