Hey friends,

My name is Cathy Varrette - I am an artist, a mother, a child advocate, and a community organizer. I am also on a lifelong health and fitness journey.

I am a single mom to a high-needs, complex-needs child. My son is my pride and joy. My inspiration, my muse. My favorite person. Everything I do is for him. I want to make the world safer, equitable, inclusive and more empathetic for him. I am relentless. And so is he.

About me: Relevant experience:

I have had many careers, and lots of life experience. But none of that was my calling. My son is my world. I want to spend every minute with him, teaching him how to navigate the world around him. He’s my favorite person. The reason I am here…

After giving birth to my son, I became disabled. Genetic conditions that were previously minor or unknown, became major. I spent years in physical rehabilitation, and therapy building myself back up. Strength and stability training is now a lifelong journey of health and fitness.

Raising a complex needs child, while also struggling with my own disabilities, a marital breakdown, and being a single mother, taught me grit, discipline, strength, self confidence, strong boundaries, resilience, resourcefulness, how to be fierce, and a staunch supporter of human rights, and not to accept the status quo. But most importantly, how to show up as my authentic self, and how to experience joy in the everyday, how to be gentle, kind, and caring, especially in the face of destruction and chaos. I became the change my son needed me to be, and the change I want to see in the world. I am relentless.

My experiences are not unique to me, but what happens when whole communities get left behind, the shared experiences of failed policies. The trauma and stigma those communities face when policy makers do not consider the user experience. The difference in outcomes is how much support folks can get, and how they deal with stress and trauma.

My words and my experiences are my own. I am not a politician, I am not a smooth talker, I am human and I make mistakes. Those mistakes are how I learn and grow. There will be times I say the wrong thing, but one thing you can always count on is that I show up as my authentic self, spreading joy, happiness, and standing up for marginalized folks. I will be relentless in fighting for our kids, for access to the curriculum, for EA support, for specialized classrooms, for alternative programs and for equity in French programs, accountability and transparency which ties directly to student success and student achievements. I want the best for our kids, because they are the next generation. The generation that will have to navigate all the problems our generation and previous generations will be leaving to them. I want them to be equipped with all the tools to succeed in life.

My advocacy began in Jan 2019, a round table discussion with the MPP who held the Autism file. Within 2 weeks the province dismantled the Ontario Autism Program. Throwing my family, and many others into crisis. This event changed the course of my life.

I joined the Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC), becoming a Regional Organizer, and later, joined the Political Action Committee, and the Education Working Group. I knew this is where I needed to be for my son, for all the kids like him, and their families. This is how I learned, first hand, that all of these and other provincial policies and systems are all interconnected. How the chronic and prolonged underfunding of all three would create the kind of crisis that we're seeing now. Education is the dumping ground for every other program, and societal issues. What gets cut elsewhere lands directly into our schools.

In May 2022, I took part in a third party Campaign, organized by the OAC, (Ontario Autism Coalition) advocating for funding and movement into the Ontario Autism Program. We targeted specific ridings across the province, 3 of which were in the Ottawa area, one of which we managed to flip, and 2 Ridings we put a real dent in their numbers.

In 2022/ 2023, I began watching school board meetings, and SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committee) meetings online from home, with my headphones on, while entertaining my son, and doing his bedtime routine. Being a single parent, it was difficult to manage, but I learned so much of what was happening at the board level by simply listening to the meetings. By the end of 2023, this actually became a virtual social hour for many parents, where we would have watch parties and chit chat with each other about the content of the meetings. We kept a close eye on the EPR, every time it was mentioned. During this time I supported many parents in their efforts to advocate for their children. What to ask for, and how to go about it.

By 2024 I took on the role of a Child Advocate, participating virtually in other parent’s meetings, and by the end of that school year, attending in person meetings at schools. I continued teaching parents how to delegate at school board meetings. With the EPR (Elementary Program Review) we watched and scrutinized every board meeting that year doing our due diligence and finding all the material sited during this process.

Aug 2025 I won the “unsung hero” award with the OAC, for my work with recruitment and advocacy with saving our Specialized Program Classes at the OCDSB. A lot of work went into finding, informing and recruiting families that would be affected by these changes and classroom cuts, long before the big announcements were made. If you were not in attendance at school board meetings, you would not have known what was happening with the EPR until the Board Staff presented their finalized work and proposals on the EPR (Elementary Program Review) to the Board of Trustees to be voted on.

Sept 2025 rolls around and we have no Trustees. I realize that yet again, our community is left without representation, and without access to meaningful info and guidance. Time to step up again. Now, in regular meetings as a Child Advocate, doing the work of Trustees, I advocate for the needs of the students at the school level, invited in by parents.

Nov 2025 the Ministry of Education cuts our live feed of the school board meetings, and SEAC. Making the Special Education Advisory Committee inaccessible to our entire population, removing our ability to participate. This was a turning point for me. Yet again, I step up, and overcome another barrier put up in front of the Disabled community. (This story is getting tiring, but here we are, again, having to do it all ourselves, working around poor policy, setting us up to fail as parents and advocates for our children.) So, I did what I always do, I stepped up for the community, and I livestreamed the School Board and SEAC meetings on the OAC’s (Ontario Autism Coalition’s) Youtube page. We are now livestreaming meetings from all School boards under supervision on our channel, for accessibility and transparency, and to keep the School Boards and Ministry of Education accountable.

I've decided to run for school board Trustee, because there is a huge need for helping parents navigate Special Education, and advocate for their child. In doing this, I will be able to reach more folks, outside of the Autism community. It is particularly difficult when you don't understand the specific language used, and what is available to your child within Ontario's Education System. After spending the last few years attending School Board meetings, Special Education Advisory Committee meetings, and School meetings with other parents, as a child advocate, I feel like it's my calling to do this, on a much larger scale. Let me be your voice at the table.

I have already hit the ground running as a Child Advocate. Need me to attend a meeting with you? I would be happy to!