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There are no answers. There is no rationale yet given as to why it was rejected

But the partnership didn’t make it into the 2017 budget. And in May the Liberals voted down a private member’s motion, tabled by Conservative MP Mike Lake, that called on the government to fund the partnership.

In an interview with the National Post Thursday, Lake said the opposition has now asked about the partnership 17 times, and has yet to hear an explanation from the government.

“There are no answers. There’s no rationale yet given as to why it was rejected,” he said. “And it leaves me to wonder if it was simply political.”

A spokesperson for Health Minister Jane Philpott told the Post the partnership wasn’t funded in part because there wasn’t unanimous support for the project from the autism community.

Photo by Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press

That does appear to be the case. Dermot Cleary, chair of the board of directors of Autism Canada, said his organization has concerns about what it sees as another “level of bureaucracy.”

“We just felt that this project was not ultimately going to be successful,” he said. “We just did not have confidence in its efficacy.”

But Lake claims Philpott told him she asked for the partnership to be funded in the budget. He also said the proposal had the support of half the Liberal caucus.

“It seemed like it was a no-brainer. It really did,” he said.

Philpott’s spokesperson said her office doesn’t normally comment on budget discussions.

In the House Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government has invested $39 million in autism research over the last five years.