New Brunswick likes to promote the values of community and inclusion unless the people to be included are adults with severe autism.
A view of the map of NB as shown above on the Department of Transportation highway cameras page shows clearly that Campbellton is as far from most municipalities in NB as possible. If you were trying to make life as miserable as possible for severely autistic adults who need autism expertise, and the families who love them, a permanent residential centre and limited access to families in far away Campbellton would make sense. If you genuinely care about New Brunswickers with autism disorders, and hopefully they all grow up to full adult age, then it makes no sense at all. The only way you could rationalize sending severely autistic adults to Campbellton, far from almost all of their families is if a) you don't really give a damn about those autistic adults and b) you don't take reality into account, the reality that the North is a small portion of the NB population and growing ever smaller.
A view of the map of NB as shown above on the Department of Transportation highway cameras page shows clearly that Campbellton is as far from most municipalities in NB as possible. If you were trying to make life as miserable as possible for severely autistic adults who need autism expertise, and the families who love them, a permanent residential centre and limited access to families in far away Campbellton would make sense. If you genuinely care about New Brunswickers with autism disorders, and hopefully they all grow up to full adult age, then it makes no sense at all. The only way you could rationalize sending severely autistic adults to Campbellton, far from almost all of their families is if a) you don't really give a damn about those autistic adults and b) you don't take reality into account, the reality that the North is a small portion of the NB population and growing ever smaller.
A far more efficient and humane approach would be to construct an adult autism centre in Fredericton centrally located part of the area comprising the bulk of NB population and the home of NB's autism expertise, an expertise whose accomplishment has been recognized by the Association for Science in Autism Treatment in the US as a model for emulation by other Canadian Provinces and some US states. The centre would also form the hub of a network of autism specific group homes around the province that could provide oversight and training to the facilities in communities near families of autistic adults.
But for Minister Horsman it is far better to send autistic adult to Campbellton far from the autism expertise and far from the vastly greater number of families with autistic adults who live in the south-central region os NB. He has said to me in discussion, and to others, that an adult autism centre can't be justified because autism families in the North would have to travel south. He ignores the autism expertise in Fredericton, he ignores the greater population in the south, he ignores the shrinking population of the North and he ignores the group homes that would form part of the autism network the proposal for which has been sitting in his Department hands ignored by a government that is brutally political.
But for Minister Horsman it is far better to send autistic adult to Campbellton far from the autism expertise and far from the vastly greater number of families with autistic adults who live in the south-central region os NB. He has said to me in discussion, and to others, that an adult autism centre can't be justified because autism families in the North would have to travel south. He ignores the autism expertise in Fredericton, he ignores the greater population in the south, he ignores the shrinking population of the North and he ignores the group homes that would form part of the autism network the proposal for which has been sitting in his Department hands ignored by a government that is brutally political.
Northern New Brunswick sees continued exodus, census shows
"Northern New Brunswick accounts for much of the province's decrease in population over the past five years, according to the 2016 census.
The Campbellton-Miramichi "economic region" dropped to 154,351, from 158,741 in 2011 — a -2.8 per cent change, the figures released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday show.
Edmundston managed to buck the trend, with a population of 16,580, an increase of 3.4 per cent.
Mayor Cyrille Simard said the city's economy is improving, with growth in the forestry sector as well as commercial investments.
"Hopefully it all adds up to better conditions for families," he said in an email to CBC News. "That's encouraging."
The city of Campbellton took one of the biggest hits, losing 502 people, coming in at 6,883, compared with 7,385 in 2011, a 6.8 per cent decrease.
Dalhousie saw fewer people leave than Campbellton, at 386, but experienced one of the biggest percentage drops. The town's population was cut to 3,126, a decrease of 11 per cent."
By contrast to Campbellton the cities of Moncton and Fredericton, yes centrally located Fredericton with recognized developing autism expertise, have actually been growing during the last census period:
"Moncton has overtaken Saint John as the largest city in New Brunswick, according to the latest census.
Moncton's population rose by 4.1 per cent in 2016 to 71,889, up from 69,074 in 2011. Saint John's population decreased by 3.6 per cent — from 70,063 to 67,575.
...
Other cities in the province that experienced population drops include:
- Campbellton: by 6.8 per cent, from 7,385 to 6,883.
- Miramichi: by 1.5 per cent, from 17,811 to 17,537.
- Bathurst: by 3.1 per cent, from 12,275 to 11,897.
Other areas of the province saw population growth, including the capital of Fredericton, where it rose 3.6 per cent, from 56,224 to 58,220.
Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien said he is pleased with the city's population growth.
"It is very manageable in terms of providing new infrastructure and services to the new residences and businesses," said O'Brien. "It is also very positive given the state of the provincial economy."
"This is further evidence that the larger cities are the economic engines for the province, and why the province must have a robust urban strategy," he said."
While Campbellton and the North continue to shrink Minister Horsman and the current government ignore the numbers and continue to insist that adults with severe autism be sent to the North, to Campbellton, with its shrinking population, far from the growing numbers of families in the South and far from Fredericton's autism expertise, as sacrificial lambs to the political aspirations of the current governing party.
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