TORONTO — Ontario’s social services minister opened the door Thursday to giving more funding to children with more severe autism, which an advocacy group described as a “huge concession” in the province’s controversial plan.

The new program announced last month by Children, Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod sparked waves of protests by parents, who said the fact that the funding wouldn’t be needs based — instead, dependent only on age and family income — would mean kids would be left without access to the levels of therapy they need.

MacLeod said Thursday that the past month has been “incredibly emotional” for families, and she has heard their concerns.

“Parents were right when they said that autism is a spectrum and that there are different needs for children on the spectrum,” she said. “So for the next few months I’ll take their input to best assess how we better support those with complex needs and provide additional supports for them.”

Laura Kirby-McIntosh, the president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said the devil will be in the details, but called the news a very positive development.

“Oh my God, she heard us,” Kirby-McIntosh said. “I heard a commitment to move to a system that is needs-based and that doesn’t simply give everybody the same amount regardless of need, so that’s a huge concession.”

After a month of sustained protests, emotional outbursts from parents observing question period, and the minister receiving threats — one person was charged by Ottawa police — this announcement takes the temperature down, Kirby-McIntosh said.

MacLeod, until now, had been firm in her message that the plan would go ahead as is, and that there was no room to provide additional funding. Next year’s budget will be at least $331 million, and she said Thursday that she was prepared to put more money into the program to provide the new needs-based supports, but couldn’t say yet how much more.

“We’re prepared to go further to support those enhancements,” she said.

MacLeod also announced she is eliminating income testing for the program, so all kids under six diagnosed as on the spectrum will receive $20,000 and kids over six will receive $5,000. The plan as originally designed would only give those maximum amounts to families making under $55,000.

Intensive therapy can cost up to $80,000 a year and many parents with kids already in government-funded therapy have said they will be unable to cover the difference to keep their kids in full-time therapy.

Kids currently receiving government-funded therapy will have their contracts extended by six months, MacLeod said.

“While we empathize with them, our priority has been and always will be to eliminate the wait list,” she said. The government has said there are 23,000 kids on the wait list.

Families had also been asking for more services to qualify under the program and MacLeod said Thursday that speech language pathology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy will now be included.

NDP critic Monique Taylor criticized the announcement of new consultations with parents less than two weeks before the plan starts April 1.

“They should have done the work before they made the announcement and put the policy in place,” she said. “They’ve put families in chaos for the last month and a half for no reason.”

Michelle Costa has been paying out of pocket for therapy for her five-year-old son, who has been on the waiting list for nearly two years. She said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the changes, but giving kids over six a smaller amount of money than younger children still amounts to an age cut-off.

“Until that major issue is addressed I think people will still remain worried,” she said.

Kristen Ellison, whose eight-year-old son is currently in government-funded therapy, said the additional six months is a relief. She said she still isn’t sure she trusts MacLeod to introduce needs-based changes, but wants to work with her on them.

“If she were to respond to my email or take my call and say, ‘Kristen, I’d love to have you come to the table. I want to understand families better,’ I would be there in a heartbeat,” Ellison said.

Earlier On HuffPost:

REGINA — Saskatchewan’s coroner’s service has released its report into the Humboldt Broncos bus crash and it calls for tougher enforcement of trucking rules and mandatory seatbelts on highway buses.

The office has made recommendations to six different government agencies after reviewing the crash.

The coroner also says the Ministry of Highways should review its policy on signs at intersections and Saskatchewan Government Insurance should implement mandatory truck-driver training.

There is a recommendation that the chief coroner create a mass fatality plan and that the Saskatchewan Health Authority review how it identifies the dead and injured in such an event.

Watch: Bus crash victim’s father’s biggest hope is to change attitudes. Story continues below.

Sixteen people were killed and 13 others were injured in last April’s collision.

A semi-truck barrelled through a stop sign at a rural intersection and was struck by the Broncos hockey bus.

The report lists the deaths as accidental and the chief coroner is not calling for an public inquest.

In December, the Saskatchewan government announced it will make training mandatory for semi-truck drivers starting in March. Drivers seeking a Class 1 commercial licence will have to undergo at least 121 1/2 hours of training.

Transport Canada announced in June that the department will require all newly built highway buses to have seatbelts by September 2020. Some charter bus companies say many new vehicles already have seatbelts, although there is no way to ensure passengers are wearing them

OKLAHOMA CITY — All-Tournament Team selection Madison Glaubke hit a booming two-run homer and Most Outstanding Player Hanna Hull took things from there, as Virginia Wesleyan University captured its second-straight NCAA Division III national championship on Monday at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex.

Glaubke had two hits, and two-time NFCA All-American Hull pitched an one-hitter, to fuel the Marlins’ 3-1 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the decisive third game of the best-of-three championship series.

Hull, who also won Most Outstanding Player honors last season, finished the finals in Oklahoma City with 60 strikeouts over just 41 innings and six starts. She threw 418 of her 643 pitches at the tournament for strikes, and recorded a no-hitter, two one-hitters and a three-hitter. Hull allowed just four hits over her first three starts and 21 innings for the (55-3) Marlins at the eight-team event.

The win broke Virginia Wesleyan’s own NCAA Division III record for wins in a season, after the Marlins posted 54 victories during last year’s title run.

Glaubke’s blast to left in the bottom of the first scored Kiersten Richardson, who had led off the inning with a walk. Three-time All-American and fellow All-Tournament Team selection Cassetty Howerin added an insurance run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly that scored Richardson, who had walked, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Glaubke’s single to center.

But it was Illinois Wesleyan (39-13-1) who jumped in front first, getting on the scoreboard in the top of the first without the benefit of a hit. All-Tournament Team selection Jillian Runyon was hit by a pitch, stole second, and took third on Sydney Alery’s groundout. She scored on a wild pitch following All-American and fellow All-Tournament Team choice Sam Berghoff’s walk.

The Titans’ Bree Walker earned All-Tournament Team honors after scattering six hits over the first five innings of Tuesday’s finale, which followed up a stellar Monday, in which she pitched all eight innings of game two for Illinois Wesleyan and came on in relief of All-American Ally Wiegand in the first contest.

After dropping the opening game of the best-of-three championship series, 6-1, on Monday, the Titans forced a winner-take-all third contest by winning game two, 5-4 in eight innings, later in the day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the fifth consecutive year, Byron Nelson High School (Texas), under the direction of Kathy Schoettle, posted the top GPA (4.518) in the high school weighted category, while Urbana University (NCAA DII) garnered the overall college GPA with a 3.840 and East Islip (N.Y.) High School (3.918) led the high school unweighted category in the Easton / NFCA Top 10 Academic Team rankings for the 2017-18 school year. Individually, 6,280 softball players earned Easton / NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors.

The rankings and honors recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across the Association’s membership categories. NCAA Division III led the way with 1,600 student-athletes earning a 3.5 grade-point average or higher for 2017-18. NCAA Division I and Division II followed with 1,311 and 1,026 honorees. High School weighted and High School unweighted earned 743 and 589 distinctions. Two-year colleges amassed 553 recipients and NAIA totaled 456.

Grand Canyon University (3.790) and Otterbein University (3.751) led NCAA Division I & III, while Spring Arbor (3.695) posted the top NAIA mark and Iowa Western Community College set the two-year college standard with a 3.700 GPA.

2017-18 Scholar-Athletes | 2017-18 Academic Teams

NCAA Division I 
1. Grand Canyon– 3.790; 2. Northern Kentucky- 3.670; 3. Charlotte- 3.649; 4. SIUE- 3.616; t5. Sam Houston State- 3.598; t5. Robert Morris- 3.598; 7. Southern Illinois- 3.596; 8. Alabama- 3.590; 9. Detroit Mercy- 3.571; 10. DePaul- 3.569.

NCAA Division II 
1. Urbana- 3.840; 2. Upper Iowa- 3.717; 3. Bridgeport- 3.713; 4. California (Pa.)- 3.684; 5. Rockhurst- 3.674; 6. Illinois Springfield- 3.673; 7. Arkansas-Monticello- 3.665; 8. Southeastern Oklahoma- 3.660; 9. Grand Valley- 3.630; 10. McKendree- 3.627.

NCAA Division III 
1. Otterbein- 3.751; 2. Johnson & Wales- 3.720; 3. Penn State Brandywine- 3.680; 4. MIT- 3.670; 5. Stevens Tech- 3.633; 6. Endicott- 3.615; 7. Saint Mary’s (Ind.)- 3.611; 8. Nebraska Wesleyan- 3.610; 9. Bethel (Minn.)- 3.606; t10. Suffolk- 3.596; t10. Ithaca- 3.596.

NAIA 
1. Spring Arbor- 3.695; 2. Central Methodist- 3.626; 3. USCB- 3.594; 4. Siena Heights- 3.591; 5. Williams Woods- 3.555; 6. St. Ambrose- 3.549; 7. Vanguard- 3.548; 8. Hannibal-LaGrange- 3.546; 9. Baker- 3.543; 10. Bellevue (Neb.)- 3.527.

Junior College 
1. Iowa Western CC- 3.700; 2. Southern Union State CC- 3.650; t3. Butler CC- 3.610; t3. College of Southern Idaho- 3.610; 5. Allen CC- 3.590; 6. East Central College- 3.570; 7. East Mississippi CC- 3.561; 8. Seminole State College of Florida- 3.516; 9. Northeast Mississippi CC 3.493; 10. Northwest Mississippi CC- 3.471.

High School (Unweighted) 
1. East Islip (N.Y.)- 3.918; t2. Pollok Central (Texas)- 3.815; t2. Loogootee Community (Ind.)- 3.815; 4. Rock Creek (Kan.)- 3.812; 5. Silver Lake (Kan.)- 3.810; 6. Topeka-Seaman (Kan.)- 3.796; t7. Central High School of Clay County- 3.785; t7. La Monte (Mo.)- 3.785; 9. Oaks Christian School (Calif.)- 3.771; 10. Milford (Neb.)- 3. 755.

High School (Weighted) 
1. Byron Nelson (Texas)– 4.518; 2. Flower Mound (Texas)- 4.510; 3. Holly Hill Academy (S.C.)- 4.380; 4. Eaton (Texas)- 4.370; 5. Grapevine (Texas)- 4.300; 6. James F. Byrnes (S.C.)- 4.242; 7. River Hill (Md.)- (4.230); 8. Lincoln Southwest (Neb.)- 4.209; 9. Cambridge Christian (Fla.)- 4.129; 10. Olathe North (Kan.)- 4.120.

QUEBEC — The parents of a man behind the deadly Quebec City mosque attack have issued an open letter questioning the severity of the minimum 40-year sentence handed down to their son last week.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 29, received his sentence Friday for killing six men and injuring six others at the Islamic Cultural Centre mosque on Jan. 29, 2017.

His parents, Raymond Bissonnette and Manon Marchand, say in the letter released Monday that the sentence is the harshest imposed in Quebec since the death penalty was abolished in 1976.

They say the Crown’s request for six consecutive life sentences, which would have prevented their son from seeking parole for 150 years and guaranteed that he end his life behind bars, amounted to circumventing the abolition of the death penalty and would terminate all hope of rehabilitation.

Watch: Crown prosecutors and members of Quebec City’s Muslim community react to Bissonnette’s sentence. Story continues below.

Meanwhile, Quebec Superior Court Justice Francois Huot concluded a sentence of 50 years or more would constitute cruel and unusual punishment for the 29-year-old.

Bissonnette’s parents say he suffered psychological and physical bullying during his years in school that had “devastating effects” on his personality.

“If we really want to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, it seems to me that the solution is not to lock someone up forever, but rather try to better understand and prevent bullying, which is a serious societal problem that continues to make victims among our young,” the letter reads.

His parents say people who commit serious crimes should still have the possibility to apply for parole after 25 years — a “glimmer of hope” they say would encourage rehabilitation.

“Unlike other countries, Canada has chosen an open-door policy, welcoming people from all over the world and giving them hope for a second chance in life,” the letter says. “Why deny convicts even the faintest hope?”

Sentence denounced by survivors

Legal experts have said Bissonnette’s sentence is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

However, it has been denounced by survivors of the attack and other Muslim community members.

Boufeldja Benabdallah, president of the mosque that was attacked, said last week that community members were stunned by the decision and felt the judge was more concerned about the dignity of the killer than that of the victims and their families.

Bissonnette pleaded guilty last March to six counts of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder after he walked into the mosque during evening prayers and opened fire. The murder victims were Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Aboubaker Thabti, 44; Azzeddine Soufiane, 57; and Ibrahima Barry, 39.

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OTTAWA — After initially refusing, Netflix has agreed to remove images of the 2013 Lac-Megantic disaster from its blockbuster film, “Bird Box.”

“Netflix and the filmmakers of ‘Bird Box’ have decided to replace the clip,” a spokesman for the streaming company said in an email to The Canadian Press. “We’re sorry for any pain caused to the Lac-Megantic community.”

People in the Quebec town and across the province were shocked after learning in January that footage from the derailment and explosion that killed 47 people was used in the drama starring Sandra Bullock.

Demands that the brief scene be removed came from politicians at all levels, including Lac-Megantic Mayor Julie Morin.

Morin said she is satisfied with Netflix’s decision. “Yes, there was a delay, but I think in the end, what’s more important for me, is that we have a solution to this situation we felt was important to settle,” she said in an interview.

Quebec Culture Minister Nathalie Roy wrote to the company Jan. 18 calling for it to take out footage of the burning town. The company initially apologized and promised to do better, but until now it had refused to edit the film.

Three months later, Netflix decided to change course.

Footage to be removed within next two weeks

Morin said the film industry needs to reconsider its use of stock footage. “I think it’s important for the industry to reflect on this,” she said in an interview. “It appears that has happened in this case.”

In a written statement, Roy said “the gesture was long-sought by Quebecers.”

The House of Commons adopted a motion Jan. 29 demanding Netflix remove the images and compensate the town.

The Canadian Press learned that the footage will be removed from the film within the next two weeks.