Watch the film · 1 min 47 s
240,000 Volunteers: the recorded calls, in 107 seconds
My son waited nearly five years for autism funding in Ontario. During that wait, a private citizen called to explain how things really work. I recorded every call. This film is the recordings, with the limits of the evidence on screen.
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How to read the film
- Every recording is a continuous cut from the original calls. Nothing is spliced inside a quote.
- Every caption is the wording published in the account.
- Lines marked as my reading or my opinion are mine, and are labelled on screen.
- The family is illustrated. The recordings are original.
- Everyone named can reply. I will publish their replies in full.
Moments in the film
- 0:00“Can you deliver 240,000 adults?”
- 0:08My son waited nearly five years.
- 0:13Doug Ford called me.
- 0:18Rouhan Coutinho. Claimed PC connections.
- 0:25More money. “Be there for him?”
- 0:30Then he asked about autistic people.
- 0:42Then he applied it to parents’ advocates.
- 0:47He said I had what they lacked.
- 0:52I took it as an invitation.
- 1:09He offered to text Ontario’s Finance Minister.
- 1:18“Constantly doing construction.”
- 1:26To me it felt like an audition.
- 1:33I declined the offer.
- 1:37You don’t make kids wait five years.
- 1:41Our kids aren’t political currency.
Transcript
The recorded words are as published in the account. On-screen lines follow them, and each section ends with the limit shown in the film.
0:00 · ONTARIO AUTISM FUNDING
“Can you deliver 240,000 adults?”
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 28 JANUARY 2026
If Doug takes care of your kids,
can you deliver 240,000 adults?
As volunteers in the next election?
His account of what he told parents. He said he wasn’t saying he agreed with “the game.” No evidence government knew of or endorsed it.
0:08 · WHY I RECORDED THESE CALLS
My son waited nearly five years.
SPENCER CARROLL · MY ACCOUNT
For autism funding.
Registered September 2021. Funded September 2026. The family and setting are illustrative.
0:13 · BEFORE THE PRIVATE APPROACH
Doug Ford called me.
DOUG FORD · RECORDED 25 JANUARY 2026
Never ever be private healthcare under my watch. Never.
He was answering my question about OHIP. This does not establish what he meant about autism intake.
0:18 · THEN A PRIVATE CITIZEN CONTACTED ME
Rouhan Coutinho. Claimed PC connections.
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 27 JANUARY 2026
the PC party president, who’s the host is Michael.
He’s one of my best friends
A private citizen, not in government. His claimed connections are not independently verified.
0:25 · HIS ACCOUNT OF WHAT HE TOLD PARENTS
More money. “Be there for him?”
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 28 JANUARY 2026
guys, Doug will give you more money,
will you be there for him?
His account of what he told parents. He said he wasn’t saying he agreed with “the game.” No evidence government knew of or endorsed it.
0:30 · LATER IN THE SAME CALL
Then he asked about autistic people.
COUTINHO AND CARROLL · RECORDED 28 JANUARY 2026
Are you familiar with why people
find people on the spectrum disconcerting?
Because they cut right to the point.
No, because they lack cognitive empathy.
His claim about autistic people. I reject it completely.
0:42 · WHERE HE TOOK THAT ARGUMENT
Then he applied it to parents’ advocates.
SPENCER CARROLL · CONTEXT
The Ontario Autism Coalition’s executive.
I don’t adopt as fact anything he said about the coalition or its executive. I reject it completely.
0:47 · THEN HE TURNED TO ME
He said I had what they lacked.
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 28 JANUARY 2026
You come across as having some of that
because you’ve run a business.
Still his claim about “cognitive empathy.” I reject it completely.
0:52 · MY READING, AND ONLY MINE
I took it as an invitation.
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 28 JANUARY 2026
And so I think it’s great if you
want to jump in the mix because
there’s no willing parent
on the other side who has,
not has cognitive empathy,
but the OAC executive,
I love them to pieces,
they don’t have it.
“OAC” is the Ontario Autism Coalition. He didn’t say the coalition should be replaced or ask me to act against it.
1:09 · THE NEXT CALL · 19 MARCH
He offered to text Ontario’s Finance Minister.
ROUHAN COUTINHO · RECORDED 19 MARCH 2026
…which I’m happy to today, right now,
or when we hang up, to Peter,
encouraging him to sit down with you.
I’m not saying that would be worth anything.
Peter Bethlenfalvy. No evidence he knew of the offer, received a text or agreed to meet.
1:18 · HE ALSO ASKED ABOUT MY BUSINESS
“Constantly doing construction.”
ROUHAN COUTINHO · HIS TEXT · 3 FEBRUARY 2026
“My friends and family and businesses are constantly doing construction.”
He never offered me work or a contract. The next day I wrote that I needed to keep business separate from policy.
1:26 · MY OPINION, AND ONLY MINE
To me it felt like an audition.
SPENCER CARROLL · MY OPINION
With a route to other parents as the part on offer.
I may be wrong about that. Nothing in this account is evidence that access was purchased.
1:33 · MY WRITTEN RESPONSE · 20 MARCH
I declined the offer.
SPENCER CARROLL · WRITTEN 20 MARCH 2026
“Going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
That day I also asked the minister’s offices for a meeting myself. No evidence government sent him or knew he had called.
1:37 · WHAT I SAID ON THE CALL
You don’t make kids wait five years.
SPENCER CARROLL · RECORDED 19 MARCH 2026
You don’t make kids wait five years,
like full stop.
My own recorded response. A parent asking for the programme to be fully funded.
1:41 · HEAR THE RECORDINGS · LINK IN BIO
Our kids aren’t political currency.
SPENCER CARROLL · MY COMMENTARY
My son cannot speak. I can.
Hear the recordings. Read the account. Everyone named can reply; I will publish their replies in full.
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