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She repeated that the program, as it had been run by the Liberal government, was unsustainable. The Progressive Conservative government added $100 million last fall “to make sure regional providers could meet their service commitments,” she said.

But that explanation of an overwhelmed program does not match up with some of the documents obtained by this newspaper and statements from a therapist at a program indicating that, far from being overwhelmed, therapists had time to offer other services, such as workshops, since they were not replacing children who had graduated from treatment.

“There was capacity to work with more children, but we weren’t allowed to,” said the behavioural therapist from southern Ontario who spoke on the condition of anonymity citing a fear of professional reprisal.

On Sunday, Michael Coteau, who was the minister in charge of autism services under the Liberal government, renewed calls for MacLeod to step down.

“The allegations that Lisa MacLeod deliberately and callously closed the autism wait list to manufacture a crisis and justify her flawed plan are shocking and shameful. For months, children went without treatment and parents were given false hope.”

Corbett said hiding the fact that the waiting list had been frozen means parents weren’t able to make decisions about the best thing to do for their children, and were dragged along for months expecting a call any day.

“They may have taken out a line of credit or remortgaged their home to get into therapy. They couldn’t make that decision because the government was flat out hiding the truth.”

Corbett said he doesn’t know the government’s motivation for pausing the wait list without telling parents, but he does know that they hid the truth.

“I don’t know how (MacLeod) moves forward on this file when she has created such mistrust,” he said.

epayne@postmedia.com

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