Mr. Speaker, one year ago 14 year old Reena Virk was brutally beaten to death in my riding by a group of teenage girls.
The Virk family, displaying enormous courage, turned its pain into positive action supporting effective crime prevention tools such as my private member's Motion No. 261 which passed in the House of Commons in May and calls for a national headstart program.
It focuses on strengthening the bond between parents and children, particularly those between the ages of zero and eight, so that children will have their basic needs met.
Headstart programs have decreased child abuse by 99%, youth crime by 60%, teen pregnancies by 50% and saved $30,000 a child. Headstart programs have also decreased the single leading cause of preventable and irreversible brain damage, fetal alcohol syndrome which plagues one-third of the people in jail.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care and I call on the government to act on the contents of Motion No. 261 and work with the provinces to implement a national headstart program so we will not see more deaths like Reena Virk's.