Dear Members,
We are pleased to provide you with a positive update on our efforts to secure the future of Sabrina’s Law. As you may be aware, the Ministry of Education recently announced the launch of a needs assessment to be conducted by Ophea (the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association) that will review how medical conditions of students – such as anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy – are being managed in publicly-funded schools in Ontario. As highlighted previously, we were concerned that there was no mention of Sabrina’s Law at the time of the announcement, and no commitment offered with regard to its future status.
Anaphylaxis Canada began to pose questions to the government (we wrote to all political parties during the recent provincial election) and we encouraged our members to contact their MPPs about our concerns. Allergic Living also prepared an article that generated a great deal of feedback.
In addition to our concerns about Sabrina’s Law, we also had strong reservations about the review process itself. We saw an opportunity to reach out to organizations which advocate for children with the other medical conditions the government was looking at and engaged them in discussions in June. Together with the Ontario Lung Association, Asthma Society of Canada, Epilepsy Ontario, and Canadian Diabetes Association, we submitted a letter to the Minister of Education Liz Sandals to request a meeting to seek clarification on the government’s plan with the review process. This letter was shared with other stakeholders, including teacher and principal groups.
On July 17th, Anaphylaxis Canada and representatives from the other organizations met with the Minister’s staff and had a very productive meeting. We were encouraged to learn that many of our shared concerns about the review process would be addressed by the government in the coming months.
Anaphylaxis Canada was very pleased with the Minister’s staff clarifying the government’s position on the status of Sabrina’s Law: the law is safe.
We were told that the government heard from many voices about Sabrina’s Law. Thank you again for your support.
As we go forward with the government’s process for reviewing medical conditions in schools, we are open to sharing the knowledge we have gained from the operation of Sabrina’s Law and seeking opportunities to work with other stakeholders to strengthen support for children with all medical conditions in our schools. We will also continue to vigorously defend both the spirit and content of Sabrina’s Law. On that note, we are thrilled for Sara Shannon and Mike Shannon – Sabrina’s parents – who had expressed their great concern about the uncertainty of the law, named after their daughter, and lent their strong support.
We will keep you informed of additional developments related to the review in the coming months.
The Team at Anaphylaxis Canada