“I asked my wife, is it 2014 or 1914?” he said. “This seems to be such a step backwards.”
Beesley’s provincial organization serves about 12,000 developmentally disabled Ontarians, including about 9,000 in group homes.
“If you believe that people with an intellectual disability have the right to be citizens of their community, then this is a model you support,” he said. “To say group homes are disruptive to the community, that the people there aren’t supervised properly, that there is higher crime, lower property values — there is just nothing there to support it.”
The provincial Liberals were poised to
spend an unprecedented $810 million over three years in their spring budget to end wait lists for 21,000 children and adults seeking developmental services to help them live fuller lives in the community. The money would have also provided residential care for 1,400 in urgent need, such as the child of an Ottawa mother in crisis who threatened to abandon her 20-year-old daughter at Queen’s Park Tuesday.
Instead of allowing a misguided local politician to inflame a community against these supports, voters should be asking provincial candidates if they are prepared to make a similar investment in developmental services should they get elected, Beelsey said.
“We need to end the wait for people who desperately require supports and services,” he said. “We need to move from a crisis model to one of prevention.”
Four separate initiatives have been examining Ontario’s failure to adequately serve this vulnerable population over the past year, including the provincial auditor general, provincial ombudsman, a panel of medical experts and a Queen’s Park committee on developmental services.
The political momentum must continue, Beelsey said. The organization is mobilizing support at
#endthewait.
Like Spoelstra, Beesley doesn’t believe Ford’s views are widespread among politicians or voters.
“We are hopeful this unfortunate incident opens up a conversation across the province around what communities and our political leaders can do to support people with (Autism Spectrum Disorders) in respectful, knowledgeable and meaningful ways,” Spoelstra said in a news release Tuesday.
“Given the strong community support for the closing of our province’s institutions based on good evidence and human rights, we feel confident that the value of living with the right community supports in local settings will be the predominant theme.”
