Mr. David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, today would have been Daron Richardson’s 15th birthday.
In the wake of the tragedy of losing their beautiful daughter, her courageous parents, Stephanie and Luke Richardson, have launched the first annual Do It For Daron Purple Pledge Day in support of the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.
They have drawn deeply on their love for Daron and their profound concern for mental health issues in all of our teenage kids, and rightly so.
Ten to twenty per cent of Canadian youth are affected by a mental illness or disorder. A staggering 3.2 million kids between the ages of 12 and 19 are at risk for developing depression. Suicide is among the leading causes of death of 15 to 24 year olds, second only to accidents, taking an astonishing 4,000 lives each and every year.
As the father of four, I am asking my colleagues in the House of Commons, many of whom are wearing purple today, to join me in honouring Daron’s memory by helping to raise awareness about youth mental health.
