Whenever Mike Lake hears news that a child with autism is missing, he knows how vulnerable they are.
“There’s a need to catch my breath a little bit because it hits close to home right away,” the Conservative MP from Alberta said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Lake and his party’s leader, Pierre Poilievre, are both fathers of children with autism.
They are calling for a Canada-wide framework for public alerts when vulnerable children go missing, even when abduction or foul play is not suspected.
Lake’s son, Jaden, is now 30, but he said a child with autism on their own can be in serious danger within minutes.
“He has and has always had a really visual memory. He would know exactly where a swimming pool that he likes is, or a park that he likes is, but the abstract world is a little bit tougher for him to navigate,” Lake said about his son, who is non-verbal.
“So things like danger and understanding traffic, and dangers around water and those kind of things for a lot of kids on the autism spectrum — particularly in that range of the autism spectrum — are really difficult.”
On July 16, an 11-year-old boy named Parker, who had autism and was non-verbal, wandered from his daycare home in Calgary just before lunchtime.
He was found dead in a labyrinth of pipes under the city’s Deerfoot Trail freeway, police announced Wednesday.
A massive search captured the attention of the city. Hundreds of officers and volunteers scouring city blocks, homes, sheds, garages, boats and under patio decks.
In a 10-minute video message shared Thursday by the Calgary police, Parker’s parents thanked all who helped. The audio was recorded before he was found.
“Everyone relates to having a missing child,” the voice of Parker’s mom is heard before she breaks into tears. “But, for a child from the special needs community, really it’s hard.”
Get daily National news
They say he loved music, frolicking in a water pad in their yard and playing on swings inside and outside the house.
It was a difficult search, complicated by Parker’s neurological condition.
Police cautioned that the boy could become more scared if confronted by strangers.
Searchers played some of Parker’s favourite Disney songs from patrol vehicles to try to draw him out.
Some left out Goldfish crackers.
The search raised questions about how to alert the public when vulnerable children disappear. Amber Alerts are currently broadcast for children abducted and in serious danger.
In Parker’s case, an Amber Alert was issued as a special exemption on the second day of the search.
Jennifer Ball started a petition to improve the alert system for vulnerable children soon after Parker went missing.
Parker’s disappearance hit especially close to home, given Ball is the mother of a seven-year-old non-verbal boy with autism. She also lives in the neighbourhood where Parker went missing.
“It could easily be my child,” Ball said. “It could easily any of the hundreds of autistic children that I know.”
Ball wants a federal alert to be sent out in cases of missing children at risk because of medical, developmental or communication challenges.
She pointed to Darius Macdougall, 6, and Drihanna Matamona, 7, who also had autism and went missing in Alberta in the past year as other examples of desperate searches that could have been aided with better protocols.
Matamona had drowned in a pond in Calgary and Macdougall went missing after he didn’t return from a walk with six young relatives while camping with his family in the Crowsnest Pass area.
On her weekend radio talk show, Premier Danielle Smith was asked about a permanent alert category for vulnerable people, including children with autism.
“We have to give law enforcement this additional tool in the event that they need it and we’ll have to make the changes to make that happen in the fall,” Smith said.
The office of Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said in an emailed statement they “will be considering all options to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable children.”
Lake and Poilievre say in a letter to Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski that according to Autism Canada, nearly half of children with autism are prone to wandering.
Emergency alert systems, they note, are not properly equipped to respond when a child who has autism is non-verbal or is otherwise vulnerable disappears without evidence of foul play.
Olszewski, in a statement, said she has received the letter and would meet next week with Lake to discuss its proposals and how to strengthen emergency communications.
In Calgary, Mayor Jeromy Farkas announced Friday that City Hall flags will be lowered to half-mast throughout the weekend to honour the boy.
The same will be done at fire departments and police stations. Both departments were key in locating the remains that ended the search for Parker.
The Calgary Tower was also lit blue Thursday night in honour of Parker.
— With files from Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press
And hear many of us are fighting the school boards that our children attend so they can wear angel sense or some sort of smart watch that has the capability of tracking and two-way communication for our children to be able to wear inside the school and at recess. I for one and fighting the school board that my child attends because they will not allow him to wear it inside the school. They claim “it is not for his learning. “ Or “it is a distraction. “Even though it is muted and on a school schedule, the only thing my child can do is press the emergency SOS button if he were to wander off or be taken or whatever the circumstances maybe. My child is verbal so they believe that he doesn’t need it even though he is neurodivergent and he has watered from the school before inside the school to outdoors, thankfully, did not leave the property, but they deny this as they did not document it. I am still fighting. I have been all the way up to the ministry of education and every single person before That and they still deny my child to wear a simple smart watch on his wrist. I guess they want to wait until something happens to my child before taking action or allowing a simple request. I will not allow that to happen. My heart goes out to Parker’s family, as well as every single child who has lost their lives when wandering off, and the worst outcome was the reality.
I pray for all of you.
Why not just change the Amber Alert system from being solely for children abducted and in serious danger to person missing and in serious danger?
Just a thought that these kind of kids, adults with autism and inability to speak, should have a braclet that they wear at all times so they can be tracked just in case they need to be located – is that not possible???
Why is this such a difficult task, how many more autistic kids have to die before you get them to wear a simple and unbreakable bracelet that tracks their location?? I have that on my friken dog and Surely A Kids life is more important??? JUMP into action and implement it ASAP!! For the love of God..and the children!!
Is it a violation of someone’s rights to have a tracking device attached to their body? This is heartbreaking and children who have a handicap should have a tracker on them and the federal government should treat them as a medical device and free to the families. One child’s death is too many