Honourable senators, as October draws to a close, we mark the end of Autism Awareness Month here in Canada. Sadly, I am less hopeful this year than I have been in recent years about the direction we are taking in this country on autism.

Last year, we were riding the high of having passed Bill S-203, calling for a federal framework on autism. This legislation put in place specific requirements of the federal government, with specific benchmarks on meeting those requirements, all the while without being so prescriptive as to handcuff officials and stakeholders, including autistic Canadians.

We wanted this legislation to succeed. Furthermore, we wanted the government to succeed in finally presenting a national approach that would result in meaningful change.

Unfortunately, it became evident last winter that developing the framework that was now required by law had become a box‑ticking exercise — one that was fixated more on appearing to be doing something rather than actually doing something.

We expressed our disappointment and provided detailed, thoughtful feedback on what we thought was woefully missing from the government’s plan. And by “we,” I mean me, Senator Boehm, MP Lake and several stakeholders.

Indeed, several of you, colleagues, made the time to meet with stakeholders last April, and you were also disappointed in what you were hearing, so much so that we collectively requested a meeting with the minister, but to no avail, which is something I’ve rarely ever seen in my time in Parliament.

In the end, the government released its Autism Strategy and framework a couple of weeks ago, and, as we warned would happen, it is being widely panned. As is often the case with box‑ticking exercises like the one we have here, the end result is aspirational at best. What’s being proposed sounds good, but there are no actual concrete actions or timelines. In short, there is no plan.

As Jamie Peddle, the father of 12-year-old Jacob, told the media:

Not one child on the waiting list for treatment will be taken off the waiting list . . . as a result of this autism strategy.

Mr. Peddle went on to say that instead of helping kids gain access to the treatment they need, the government is focused on creating new consultation bureaucracies to talk amongst themselves, and he’s absolutely right. That’s all we now have out of Bill S-203. Not one autistic child is or will be better off as a result, never mind those who are aging out of the system and will have resources pulled away from them. But we now have a new bureaucratic body. That’s what this government has done with this law. They created a new level of bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, autistic families will continue to struggle to find the help they need. Add this to the list of things, unfortunately, that are broken in our country. Thank you, colleagues.