REGINA, Sask. — When an autistic child disappears, every second can carry enormous consequences. But advocates behind a growing national campaign say Canada's emergency alert system can leave some of the country's most vulnerable people without the immediate public warning they need.
That is the gap Indigo Alert Canada is trying to fill.
The grassroots campaign began in July after the disappearance and death of 11-year-old Parker Wells, a non-verbal autistic boy from Calgary. Because there was no evidence of an abduction or foul play, his case did not meet the criteria for a standard Amber Alert.
Jennifer Ball, who launched the campaign, says that experience exposed a critical weakness in the current system.
“Six weeks ago, Indigo Alert Canada started for one reason: change,” Ball said. “To fill a gap in our current system and fight for a better response when vulnerable people go missing.”
The proposed Indigo Alert would create a dedicated emergency notification for missing vulnerable people, including children with autism who may wander and seniors living with dementia.
The campaign wants governments across Canada to use the existing Alert Ready infrastructure to rapidly broadcast information through cellphones, television and radio when a vulnerable person is believed to be in immediate danger.
For Regina representative Kayla Bye, the issue is deeply personal.
Bye is the mother of a non-verbal autistic child who experiences elopement, the term commonly used when an autistic person leaves a safe environment unexpectedly.
“If he were to go missing, he would not be able to tell anybody who he was, what his name is, what his mom’s phone number is,” Bye said.
She says that creates an entirely different kind of emergency.
“Because a lot of these children, my son specifically, are attracted to water, are attracted to dangerous situations, could walk into the middle of the street and be hit by a car,” Bye said. “And so honestly, every second matters when a vulnerable individual goes missing.”
That urgency is at the centre of the campaign.
Bye says the proposed alert would allow information to reach the public much sooner, rather than relying on existing criteria that may not apply to a missing vulnerable person.
“Instead of waiting and having to go through loopholes like this needs to be put out, we can do it a lot faster,” she said. “And that makes the world a lot safer for these vulnerable individuals.”
The movement is now seeking support at every level of government.
An official House of Commons petition was launched in August and is sponsored by Alberta MP Mike Lake. The campaign says it wants federal, provincial and territorial governments to work together on a national approach.
Bye says the movement is deliberately non-partisan.
“We’re asking every government, every level of government to look at this and come together and create something,” she said. “We’re not for one party or the other. It has nothing to do with government for us.”
The campaign has also begun gaining political attention, although Bye says Saskatchewan has yet to respond.
“We have not yet heard from Scott Moe or his government at all, which is kind of disappointing on the Saskatchewan end of things,” she said.
For Bye, however, the campaign is bigger than any government or political party.
“We don’t know the end framework of the alert, but we just know that there’s a gap in the alerting system and we need to fill that gap,” she said.
The campaign's name is a reference to indigo, a deep purple colour associated with autism awareness.
And behind the national push are parents who say they understand how quickly an ordinary day can become a crisis.
Bye says her own son has wandered from home, a park and daycare.
“The first time my son eloped changed me forever,” she said. “We were lucky. But the outcome could have been so different.”
Then came Parker Wells.
“The outcome could have been Parker’s story,” Bye said.
She is now encouraging Saskatchewan residents to learn about the campaign, sign the petition e-7703 and contact their elected representatives.
A peaceful Indigo Alert rally is scheduled for Sept. 12 at 1 p.m. at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in Regina, where advocates plan to share their experiences and push for change.
The campaign says nearly 40,000 people have already signed its petition as of September, while support continues to grow across Canada.
Ball says the growing response has transformed an idea born from tragedy into something much larger.
“What started as an idea has become a movement,” Ball said.
She says advocates are now holding meetings, gathering research, working with politicians and building provincial teams in an effort to turn that movement into a permanent change to Canada's emergency alert system.
“This was never just about awareness,” Ball said. “It is about creating real, lasting change.”
And for the parents behind Indigo Alert Canada, the measure of success will not be how many signatures they collect or meetings they attend.
It will be whether the next family facing the unthinkable gets the warning they need in time.
“We will keep showing up,” Ball said. “We will keep taking the meetings. We will keep pushing. And we will not stop until that gap is filled.”
