TORONTO — When Jenny Tozer’s 18-year-old autistic son was missing for more than two weeks, she began preparing for the worst.

His mother said Logan left their home in Havelock, Ont., in the middle of the night, drove 35 kilometers north through wooded areas and got lost trying to return home.

He was eventually found in an abandoned building on the 17th day of his disappearance — “safe with only three tick bites and an adventure to tell,” Tozer said — but the outcome could easily have been tragic.

“I was trying to figure out how to keep it together for all his siblings, because they couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t home either, and they weren’t sleeping,” Tozer said at a news conference Wednesday. conference.

“I couldn’t sleep. It was a bit chaotic. It was something no one should go through and I’m very, very lucky that he came home alive.”

Tozer is now joining others in calling on the government to create a new type of alert for vulnerable people.

New Democrat Monique Taylor’s state private member bill would implement an alert system similar to Amber Alerts for vulnerable people like children with autism or seniors with dementia, but it has been stalled at the committee stage in the legislature.

He introduced the bill in March 2023, and a day of public hearings were held a year later, but the next phase, in which a legislative committee reviews the bill clause by clause and considers amendments, has yet to occur.

“We’re here today to let the government know that we’re going to do whatever it takes to deliver that transition, whether that’s sharing the bill with a member of the government – take the bill, make it your own, it doesn’t matter,” Taylor said Wednesday.

“This isn’t about me. This is really about the legislation and making sure we pass it.”

The bill was inspired by the stories of Draven Graham, a boy with autism who drowned after getting lost in 2022, and Shirley Love, a senior who died in December of that year after leaving her home without winter clothing.

These families support the bill, as does the Ontario Autism Coalition.

“Try to imagine what it would feel like to lose a loved one who, because of their disability or cognitive impairment, is unable to ask for help, understand safety concerns, and often cannot find their way home,” said Kate Dudley-Logue, the coalition’s deputy leader.

“It’s terrifying and it’s a caregiver’s worst nightmare. All of us in the autism community hold our breath and feel this immense stress every time we hear stories like Logan’s, because so many of us have experienced it and know full well what’s real.” “There is a possibility that their children may not come home.”

Taylor said there are a variety of tools already in use to find missing people and help keep vulnerable people out of harm’s way, but this alert system would be a necessary additional layer.

Paul Calandra, when he was speaker of the government last year, said he believed the bill was flawed and wanted it to be put to committee so it could be improved. Current capitol leader Steve Clark’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the bill.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Allison Jones, Canadian Press