Calgary Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner is calling on Ottawa to expand Canada's emergency alert system to include missing vulnerable children, arguing current rules can cause potentially deadly delays when there is no evidence of an abduction.The Calgary Nose Hill MP announced Friday she is sponsoring parliamentary petition e-7643, which calls for emergency alerts when autistic, non-speaking, special-needs or otherwise vulnerable children disappear.The petition follows a recent tragedy involving a vulnerable child in north-central Calgary.Parker, 11, an autistic, non-verbal boy, was able to get out of his daycare before disappearing. Despite the biggest search in Calgary history he wasn't found until days later, dead in a culvert system."This is a non-partisan, official parliamentary petition asking officials to work together and build more tools to help prevent tragedies like one that recently occurred in my community of north-central Calgary," Rempel Garner said in a statement.The MP said she has received an outpouring of messages from constituents asking what could be done to improve the response when vulnerable children go missing.Under Canada's existing system, Amber Alerts are generally issued in suspected child abductions when authorities believe a child is in imminent danger.Rempel Garner said that standard can leave police seeking special exemptions before issuing emergency alerts in cases involving vulnerable children who wander away from caregivers."Many children with autism and functional capacity limitations are prone to wandering and can face immediate life threatening danger when they go missing, even without evidence of foul play," she said."Current emergency alerts are only issued when there are suspected abductions and securing special exemptions for missing vulnerable children can cause dangerous delays.".Rempel Garner said authorities should have the ability to rapidly send alerts when a child's circumstances make their disappearance an immediate threat to their safety."When a child's life is at risk, there cannot be any delay in deploying life saving tools and supports," she said.The petition also calls for improved training for first responders dealing with children who have intellectual or developmental disabilities.Rempel Garner said residents of north-central Calgary worked with her office to sponsor the parliamentary petition.If the petition receives the required number of signatures and is certified, Rempel Garner can present it in the House of Commons, requiring the federal government to issue a formal response.She said other federal politicians have also called for changes to Canada's emergency alert system following cases involving missing vulnerable children."We must act quickly to ensure that every tool possible is made available to protect vulnerable children," Rempel Garner said.
