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Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod accused her critics of playing “partisan games” with the opposition as she brushed off calls for her resignation Thursday over her handling of changes to the province’s autism program.

“I’m not going to get distracted by the partisan games,” she told this newspaper. “I’ve got a big workload and I have Ontario’s most vulnerable people who are depending on me to get the job done.”

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The Ontario Association for Behaviour Analysis is alleging the minister vowed it would be a “long four years” for the organization if it did not publicly support the revamped autism program, which ONTABA contends will leave many children without adequate levels of therapy.

Given the opportunity Thursday, MacLeod did not deny making those statements.

“I’m going to continue to fight for the children within my ministry,” MacLeod replied when asked to respond to the allegations after an unrelated media event in Ottawa.