Corrections to release file of N.B. teen suicide

The Correctional Service of Canada has until the end of Friday to release the file of Ashley Smith, a 19-year-old woman who strangled herself in her cell at a federal prison in October 2007 as prison guards watched.

Corrections Canada had originally said it would appeal an order to release the 291-page file, which documents the 11½ months Smith spent in federal institutions between Oct. 24, 2006, and Oct. 19, 2007.

Smith, who was known to be suicidal, was in solitary confinement — and on suicide watch — when she strangled herself with a piece of cloth and died of asphyxia at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, a federal prison near Kitchener, Ont.

Guards who watched her death on a surveillance camera had been ordered not to enter her cell unless she stopped breathing.

Smith's case prompted a probe by New Brunswick's ombudsman and federal correctional investigator Howard Sapers. It also drew widespread criticism about how young people suffering from mental illness or severe behavioural disorders are dealt with by the prison system.

In April, a federal judge ordered Corrections Canada to release the file, which includes numerous assessments, her transfer and violent-incident records, criminal charge sheet and documents about her "maximum" security risk classification.

Corrections Canada said originally it would appeal the decision, but dropped its bid in August.

Complained of poor treatment

Smith, who had committed a series of minor offences, spent from 2003 to 2006 in two New Brunswick correctional facilities before being transferred to Grand Valley, her 17th transfer in less than a year. There have been suggestions corrections officials transferred her often in order to circumvent a law requiring them to conduct a review any time an inmate is kept in solitary confinement for more than 60 days.

Smith had complained of poor treatment by the correctional service, alleging an assault, lack of psychiatric care and frequent transfers among prisons and treatment facilities across Canada.

The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, a non-profit advocacy group for federally sentenced women, applied for the documents on Smith's behalf in September 2007.

In April, Federal Court Justice Michael Kelen ordered the correctional service to hand over Smith's file, saying it had breached the Privacy Act in not giving Smith her records.

'We had no knowledge of the horrible things Ashley was going through until after the fact.' —Coralee Smith, Ashley's mother

Smith's death and the subsequent RCMP investigation into the conduct of prison staff were not valid reasons to withhold the documents from the Elizabeth Fry Societies, the judge said.

Kim Pate, the executive director of the societies, told CBC News it would be "highly irregular" for Corrections Canada not to turn over the documents on Friday.

Smith's mother, Coralee Smith, also wants to see the documents.

"We need to shed light on the whole 11½ months in federal prison," she told CBC News. "You know, we had no knowledge of the horrible things Ashley was going through until after the fact."