Hon. Leo Housakos: Thank you, honourable colleagues. I want to thank all my colleagues for their collaboration on this very important bill. I also want to thank the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, committee chair Senator Omidvar and all members of the committee for their significant and important contributions to this bill in such a short period of time.

I also want to say how proud I am today, because it is in moments like these that I feel we are fulfilling our role, as senators and as an institution, to advocate for minorities, for people who may, from time to time, feel forgotten by their government, their Parliament or their society. Today, we can be proud of this institution.

I also want to sincerely thank Senator Boehm, whom I feel has been the co-sponsor of this bill since the start. He has given his unflagging support to this bill at every stage. I am also very grateful to former senator Jim Munson.

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Senator Munson, for years, was a strong advocate for people on the spectrum and for people with special and unique needs. Even though he is no longer in the chamber with us, of course, this bill speaks to his heritage and his work, as well as that of all senators who worked so hard for so many years to put this issue on the table with the historic report Pay now or pay later: autism families in crisis, done a number of years ago, that brought a lot of attention to the cause.

Aside from Senator Munson, of course, I want to thank all my other colleagues who have come on board and embraced this cause. We all have personal stories that touch us. Thank you for your speech, Senator Loffreda. Senator Loffreda and I have been fighting for this cause for many years, and he brought up Giant Steps, which is close to my heart and his. I want to thank all the stakeholders who participated in putting together and supporting the legislation and who testified before the committee, particularly the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance, or CASDA, and the dozens of advocates and members that CASDA works with across the country.

I have been involved with this issue for a number of years, and there are two recurring themes when I talk to family members of children, particularly, who are afflicted with autism spectrum disorder. They say, “Senator, we feel alone. We feel helpless.” If our institution can pass this bill and send it to the other place, calling for what has been needed for a long time, a national framework to serve as a springboard that will hopefully become a national strategy on autism, then we can send a clear message to those Canadian families, grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters and friends who are dealing with the challenges of autism: We have been hearing you. We are listening. You’re not alone and you’re not helpless. We feel you, we will respond and we will be there in solidarity, because at the end of the day, those are just words for me. I think a society can only achieve its true greatness if we use our resources to make sure that no child is left behind and that we take advantage of the wonderful skill sets every Canadian has to offer.

I also want to thank my wife, who just finished her master’s degree in health administration from McGill University. It was her master’s paper that served as the inspiration for me to sit down with Senator Boehm and Senator Loffreda and all my colleagues to push forward this project. I also want to send a thank you to a young, brilliant man, Manoli Katalifos who, 20 years ago, introduced me to autism spectrum disorder. He has ever since become one of the people I advocate for. Manoli, thank you. This is in large part for you.

Colleagues, this is just the beginning.

I hope we pass this bill unanimously and send a strong message to the other place. Of course, the work doesn’t end there. We all need to advocate, and I call upon Senator Gold to put his shoulder to the wheel one more time once we pass this bill to advocate for our institution and this bill in the government. I hope that all parties over in the other place embrace this and receive it in the spirit in which the Senate is sending it over there. I hope it serves as a tool for them to build an autism strategy that responds to today’s challenges that the autism community faces and to tomorrow’s challenges as well. Thank you, colleagues, for your indulgence, support and hard work. I hope we do send a clear message of great things to come.

Thank you.