HANMER, Ont. - The parents of autistic children overwhelmingly supported the Liberals in the 2003 election but after years of broken promises and growing waiting lists for treatment those same voters will be shifting their support elsewhere, New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton said Tuesday.
Hampton was spending the day travelling through northern Ontario and met a group of supporters in Hanmer, about 20 kilometres north of Sudbury, where his wife Shelley Martel has been the provincial representative since 1999.
Martel has been the most outspoken advocate for families struggling to receive the expensive intensive behavioural intervention treatment for autism and has made the NDP synonymous with the cause, Hampton said.
The Liberals, on the other hand, have simply developed a reputation for failing to deliver on promises and letting kids go without the help they desperately need, Hampton said.
"These desperate parents and these vulnerable kids have been among the most deceived and manipulated by Dalton McGuinty of anybody in the province,'' Hampton said.
"People want to know what this election is about? It's about getting justice for these parents and these kids.''
Better access to autism treatment is among Hampton's six major commitments leading up to the Oct. 10 election.
While Martel is not running again for office, she said the NDP caucus is committed to taking on her cause.
Autism was one of several issues Hampton was expected to address while visiting three of the 11 northern ridings on Tuesday.
