The Progressive Conservatives’ decision to cut funding for the families of adults with severe autism is no laughing matter to Canadian comedy legend Eugene Levy.

On Tuesday, Levy rallied support for the seven families and their nine children who are suing Premier Doug Ford’s government after their financial assistance ended last summer.

“I blame Premier Ford and (Social Services) Minister Todd Smith,” he told the Star at Queen’s Park, part of a daylong media blitz.

“That’s where it all happened. It was taken away. I’m here to lend my voice to these seven families and their nine young adult autistic kids,” said the star of “Schitt’s Creek,” “SCTV,” and “American Pie.”

“I am absolutely heartbroken for these families,” said Levy, whose cousin Michael is one of the nine people with autism hurt by the funding change.

“Life is difficult enough for these parents and their high-needs children. It is time that our government starts working with them instead of against them,” he said.

As first disclosed by the Star last month, the families took legal action after being cut off of autism services that they had been receiving for more than 15 years.

They are suing the government “for breach of contract, negligence, and breach of Charter rights.” The lawsuit will be formally filed in court on Monday.

In an 18-page letter to the premier and Smith, lawyers Scott Hutchison and Mary Eberts wrote that as of Aug. 6, “your government severed funding to our clients, which they had been receiving for over 15 years.”

The payments, which totalled at most about $1.7 million annually, were the result of previous litigation with the province. They have appeared as a line item in the Ontario budget, which was $163.4 billion this year.

While the previous Liberal government successfully fought them in court, it was decided the money should continue to flow.

The Liberals “promised that the funding would not end until a co-ordinated transition to other services had been made, in a way that provided alternative services with which the families were satisfied.”

However, there has never been a transition to other services for the families, so the payments went out from 2004 until the Tories scrapped them this year.

The families’ lawyers point out “there was never an age limit on the court-ordered funding and it was not part of the Ontario Autism Program nor any other program or initiative of the government addressed to the needs of those with developmental disabilities.”

That means the grown children affected do not benefit from the Tories’ revamp of autism services.

After bungling the reforms announced in February, the government has since doubled annual spending for 40,000 eligible families with younger children to $600 million.

Christine Wood, press secretary to the social services minister, said “it would be inappropriate to comment further as this matter may be the subject of litigation.”

“We are committed to giving adults with developmental disabilities, including autism, the support they need to fully participate in their communities,” said Wood.

“Adults with developmental disabilities may be eligible for funding from the Ontario Disability Support Program and the Passport program.”

Autism surfaced as a federal election issue last week when Sen. Jim Munson urged Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to commit to a national autism strategy if they are re-elected Monday.

The Liberals are the only major party not to mention autism in their campaign platform. Munson, who authored a 2007 Senate report calling for a national autism strategy and who has been advocating for one ever since, told reporters his “heart sank” when he saw the omission.

Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives have promised to spend $50 million over the next five years to develop a national strategy. The move is widely seen as an attempt by the federal Conservatives to distance themselves from Ford’s controversial Ontario autism program overhaul last winter.

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But advocates have questioned why Scheer’s Conservatives would spend five more years consulting with families, stakeholders and the public when a national organization has already spent 10 years developing a blueprint.

The NDP has pledged $25 million a year to implement a strategy that “will co-ordinate support for research, ensure access to needs-based services, promote employment, and help expand housing options.”

Trudeau’s Liberals counter that the federal government has spent $20 million supporting Canadians with autism and their families. It boosted investment in the ASD strategic fund, launched the first national autism data report in 2018 and doubled the child disability tax credit to $5,600 a year in the 2019 budget.

With files from Laurie Monsebraaten

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