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[Music]
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[Music]
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Prison is about submission and
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compliance this is no place for teenage
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defiance the Fifth Estate has obtained
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this video shot by prison staff we
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received it with guards faces obscured
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and voices altered
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they've blasted her cell with pepper
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spray it's just another day in the life
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of inmate Ashley Smith
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[Music]
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tonight we go behind the walls right
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into the cell to see what the jailers do
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not want you to know I'm Hana Gartner
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this is the fifth estate we have
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obtained a prison videotape that we are
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making public for the first time and I
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caution you the images are disturbing in
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the language is raw but it exposes just
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how kids with mental health and
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behavioral problems are treated behind
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bars in this country this is the
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desperate journey of inmate Ashley Smith
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a troubled young girl who cried out for
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help and never got it she may be unusual
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but her story is not unique
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and it begins not as you might predict
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but in a nice neat home with parents who
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really care
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she had one home visit which was for a
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day and then she was released twice but
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it only lasts around 24 hours this is
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her room this is not this is an Ashley
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grown-up room this is what she would
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have had coming home we've got 400 dolls
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someone said oh she wasn't a girly girly
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girl to play with dolls so this is her
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doll collection
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a mother shrine to the sweet playful
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girl she adopted when Ashley was only
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five days old the child she wants to
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remember and looking around this room
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there is not one clue to how everything
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went so terribly wrong yep well since
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you okay yes you come up here I come in
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and dust and clean a bit go look my
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favorite spot
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Ashley's photograph doesn't give any
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hints either not the face of a tough
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street kid and she wasn't one as a
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little girl growing up in Moncton New
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Brunswick
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but then Ashley began to change her
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father herb remembers when the trouble
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started trouble started well what'd she
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get oh I'd say about 14 13 14 years old
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by grade 8 Ashley was failing and she
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was regularly getting expelled for being
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defiant disrespectful and disruptive she
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was breaking the rules she walked out
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she wasn't going to class yes and it
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made it hard at home to
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in what way well when she come home and
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the mother had asked her how come she
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came home and she would say well I got
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kicked out for no reason at all and it's
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always somebody else's home it seems the
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only thing Ashley was good at was being
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bad
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she committed so many minor offenses
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that she was in and out of youth court
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more than a dozen times so what was
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going on what was going with Ashley with
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Ashley she was just I would say on the
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verge of being out of control
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we hired a child psychologist like we
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did what we thought we were we did what
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we thought we were supposed to do Ashley
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had been diagnosed with learning
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disabilities but there had been no real
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follow-up and that psychologist Coralie
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hired did not identify mental illness
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just behavioral issues impulsivity not
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understanding consequences and all that
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came to a head the day she had the
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run-in with the mailman apparently there
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was somebody in the neighborhood saying
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the welfare checks weren't coming in and
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she said oh they're not well all speed
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him up her where's that effect there
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were kids there were other kids with her
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there were she wasn't there alone so
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they threw cattle crabapples at him and
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of course you're assaulting your public
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employee I mean you just so that's what
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gutters are the first step on the road
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to incarceration crabapples crabapples
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already on probation for trespassing and
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causing a disturbance at the mall ashley
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was sentenced to a juvenile detention
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center in Miramichi the two-hour drive
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from home the New Brunswick youth center
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describes itself as a safe and secure
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environment for you
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age 12 to 17 this is a youth center
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primarily and so the the focus was
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therapeutic
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New Brunswick Ombudsman and child
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advocate Donald Rashad what we're seeing
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more and more and both in the adult
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system and in the Youth Center is a
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growing number of kids who are
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manifesting mental health problems
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behavior disorders
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we're using our prison system as a
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de-facto
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mental health facility first day ever at
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the Youth Center when you first walk in
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they strip-search you okay so she was
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like 14 13 14 first day there and
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they're telling her take her clothes off
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Jessica Fair was in the cell next to
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Ashley's she was doing time for running
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away from a group home and was a little
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more streetwise than Ashley obviously
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she got scared did they explain anything
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to her
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and she refused to do it so from the
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second that she got in there that she
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got tackled and thrown in the hole TQ TQ
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yeah it's supposed to be therapeutic
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quiet time therapy it's not very
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therapeutic though you're in a cell for
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like five days like they can shut off
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one day what 60
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no time they opened her cell door for
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the first couple weeks she'd attack them
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cuz she didn't know what to expect she's
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just a baby in there jessica says apart
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from anger management and drug addiction
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counseling there were no programs and
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few activities but there was one aspect
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of life in the youth center they became
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very familiar with security procedures
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they'll tell you the procedure can heal
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up your bunk your face against the wall
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I was behind your back come in look cuff
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yeah I get footage shackles on you you
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leave yourself they say they're always
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supposed to keep you in for
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I think four hours there's a lot of
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times boomer ends left in it all night
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long what confuses me on the one hand
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you say it's a therapeutic environment
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where what the youngest kid is 12 years
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old and where in the end it really is
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just a jail in fact they would call
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segregation therapeutic quiet
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which which I really I became quite
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upset over the use of that term because
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I think it's a softening of very hard
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reality and and and doublespeak Ashley
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just called it the hole it's where she
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and her friend Jessica were spending 23
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hours a day
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how did the two of you make time pass
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annoying the guards annoying the guards
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this was the kick yeah why was she
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provoking everybody so much she just she
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was in there so long and it was quite
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entertaining to get them going as people
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that she didn't like that was working
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and stuff just to make him crazy
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drive just to give him a hard time yeah
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yeah look if she thought she was in
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there for a stupid reason and if it
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didn't make sense to her then she was
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gonna make their their shift hell she
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was even in solitary guards had trouble
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controlling Ashley she managed to
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accumulate eight hundred documented
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incidents from covering her cell window
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with feces - simply refusing to hand
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over a hairbrush
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[Music]
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three warnings they're up again three
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times kneel on the bottom bunk and when
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Ashley didn't get her way she up the
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ante and pretend to strangle herself so
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Ashley with wrap something around her
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neck cuz in TQ you have a camera on you
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24/7 right so the people would obviously
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see it and they'd come down and see
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what's probably what this is a really
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dangerous game yeah but she so I was
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laugh about it because she said they're
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stupid cuz they could clearly see it
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hanging down like I was never tight she
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always told me that she didn't want to
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die and she's a laugh that they thought
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she was suicidal for correctional
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officers this was no joke
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in this footage obtained by the Fifth
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Estate a guard decides Ashley's repeated
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attempts to choke herself call for a
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tactical response I feel this is very
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virus all
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Smith she said she's not talking
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discontinued so I think we're going to
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go to the next step
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[Music]
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in order to immobilize Ashley guards
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strapped her into a cocoon like device
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they call the rack
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[Music]
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this is Ashley's first time in the rap
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but it won't be her last
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[Music]
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so
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No
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[Music]
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they're forced to lie in our story
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continues when we return actually was
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tasered twice in the space of one month
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repeatedly that was the response to her
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behaviors after almost three years in
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solitary confinement at the New
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Brunswick youth center eighteen-year-old
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Ashley Smith has been moved to an adult
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prison alone and despondent she writes
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in her diary if I die then I will never
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have to worry about upsetting my mom
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again
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during a Christmas visit with Ashley
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Coralie was horrified to see the scars
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on her daughter's arms
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Ashley was cutting herself I don't
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understand how you can be segregated and
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still be scurrying and damaging yourself
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as bad as you were and nobody saying
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well you know this is getting worse this
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is not getting better you and I know
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it's a cry for help they didn't treat it
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just so whatever Ashley's psychological
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problems this New Brunswick prison video
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shows the treatment she got yes she's in
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her cell naked but the guards believe
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she has hidden a shoelace and intends to
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choke herself
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[Music]
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armed with Tasers guards fire or warning
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shot
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no one
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Ashley was tasered twice in the space of
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one month repeatedly that was the
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response to her behaviors New
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Brunswick's Ombudsman investigated how
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youth with behavioral problems are
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treated in custody in Bernardo Rashad's
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opinion prison made Ashley worse I think
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someone should have clued in that this
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girl required much more professional
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help
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knowing knew how to handle Ashley
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because knowing you what was wrong with
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her in all the time she was at the youth
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center she never had a comprehensive
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mental health assessment all they could
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do for Ashley was restrain her and give
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her more prison time a one-month
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sentence had stretched into more than
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three years and it was taking a toll on
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Ashley's mental health but her life was
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about to change
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the decision had been made to move her
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to a federal penitentiary why did the
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superintendent of the New Brunswick
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Youth Center apply to have Ashley
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transferred to the adult prisoner he
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didn't have to do that without question
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they were at wit's end the I think
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really felt that she might be able to
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get more help in the federal system than
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they did he think she would get more
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help in the federal system or did he
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just want her out of his air well
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without a doubt he wanted her out of his
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hair I mean she was she monopolized a
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lot of his resources and before she was
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transferred they allowed me to win the
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cell with her and she was just
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devastated she was just shaking crying
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she was devastated
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but Coralie was still hopeful Canada's
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Correctional Service is after all the
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largest employer of psychologists in the
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country they claim access to the world's
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most renowned experts this is a healing
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environment is what Coralie was told
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they promise to take care of her
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all along all along will take care of
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her we'll take care of her we'll look
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after her of the three women's
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penitentiaries Ashley would do time in
00:18:46
Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener
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Ontario is the biggest built with female
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inmates in mind it has a more homey look
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and offers a mental health program
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tailored especially to women it's the
00:19:00
kind of help Ashley could have used but
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the warden locked her in segregation the
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minute she got here Corrections Canada
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cancelled our interview with grand
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Valley's current warden
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they sent senior advisor Dan Erickson to
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talk to us on the condition we do not
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ask about Ashley Smith segregation isn't
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punitive one thing about Corrections
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it's all about human relations and human
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relationships how we do that helps
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individuals so that people can be helped
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to recover from some of the problems
00:19:37
that they may that they may have theirs
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for segregation cells in this unit and
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we'll just take a look at one of the
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cells that we have opened right now so
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this is a segregation cell with a
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closable window and a food slot
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so this would be a typical segregation
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cell in most institutions except it
00:20:03
usually would probably would be square
00:20:04
you'll be visited by a nurse every day
00:20:07
you'll be visited by a correctional
00:20:09
manager or a probe role officer or
00:20:12
psychologist and the other times you'll
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be either watching TV or reading or
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doing other activities she didn't have
00:20:21
anything to do in herself she had
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indicated that she had been out without
00:20:25
a mattress often that she'd been denied
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at times even toilet paper when she was
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menstruating she'd been denied access to
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adequate you know hygiene products heme
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pate is the head of the Elizabeth Fry
00:20:37
Society a national organization
00:20:40
advocating for women in prison the first
00:20:44
time I met with her was just through the
00:20:46
mail spot so what did what did this cell
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look like what did she have in there
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well she had nothing both times I saw
00:20:53
she had nothing in herself this is how
00:20:56
Ashley would spend the next year of her
00:20:58
life in various federal prisons across
00:21:00
this country well she would sleep on the
00:21:03
floor are usually that's what she'd
00:21:04
report she was using her security gown
00:21:07
to try and wrap tightly around her and
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other women said she was saying she was
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picking the tiles off the floor in the
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hopes that they'd replace it with carpet
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so she can sleep
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so she's 1819
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years old she's in segregation locked
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into a cell 23 hours out of every 24
00:21:26
Howard ciphers is convinced isolating
00:21:29
inmates with mental disorders is unsafe
00:21:32
and inhumane
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he's the federally appointed
00:21:35
correctional investigator why would you
00:21:39
think that
00:21:39
that in Canada that the best our
00:21:42
correctional service could offer a
00:21:44
mentally ill young woman was an
00:21:46
isolation cell if you are already acting
00:21:48
out if you're already into self-injury
00:21:50
if you have suicidal ideation that
00:21:53
isolation is not the place for you to be
00:21:57
that is where she served her entire
00:22:00
sentence defiant as ever and just like
00:22:04
in the New Brunswick youth center this
00:22:06
all had to be documented and videotaped
00:22:13
Canada's Correctional Service fought to
00:22:16
prevent us from showing you these tape
00:22:26
we have to get a court order to make
00:22:28
this public I never did see the
00:22:31
videotape I can't speak for that but
00:22:33
what I can tell you is that on numerous
00:22:35
occasions and it's well documented that
00:22:37
these officers went in and save this
00:22:39
woman's life Ontario guards union
00:22:49
president Jason Gordon ah so they
00:22:52
allowed her a television set what did
00:22:53
she do she basically took everything you
00:22:55
know the pieces from that television set
00:22:57
used them as weapons she would suitcase
00:22:59
glass what does that mean
00:23:01
she would she would put glass in her
00:23:03
body cavities glass
00:23:05
yes glass in her hair and in any one of
00:23:07
her body cavities and she would use that
00:23:08
against correctional officers when they
00:23:10
when they came in the cell she also used
00:23:12
the glass to cut strips from her prison
00:23:14
gown Ashley was strangling herself often
00:23:18
several times a day sometimes Ashley
00:23:20
Smith would would would fake dying so
00:23:25
she would just lay on the floor and then
00:23:27
of course there would come a point in
00:23:28
time they would have to go in because
00:23:29
she was unresponsive so that so they
00:23:32
would go in the cell and at that point
00:23:33
she might jump right up and assault them
00:23:35
with a piece of glass or or try to hit
00:23:37
them or whatever so it was it was a very
00:23:38
very difficult situation to be in there
00:23:42
was nothing in there 12 weeks of
00:23:44
training that prepared guards for an
00:23:46
inmate like Ashley Smith the sad truth
00:23:49
is is that in our experience we've seen
00:23:53
those things happen with other inmates
00:23:56
so why the Correctional Service
00:23:59
continues to do the same thing and
00:24:01
expect different results it confounds me
00:24:08
of course on this a Shannon Smith it's
00:24:11
August 31st is 9:05 p.m. every time this
00:24:17
happened it had to be written up as a
00:24:19
use-of-force report great has been used
00:24:23
actually generated a hundred and fifty
00:24:26
of them at Grand Valley she set a prison
00:24:29
record every time that there was one of
00:24:33
these security incidents there would be
00:24:35
a posting made in a daily report a daily
00:24:39
situation report which is circulated
00:24:41
broadly throughout the senior management
00:24:42
at the Correctional Service and who does
00:24:44
all gets that well so ever you well as I
00:24:47
say it's the this the management to the
00:24:49
Correctional Services all the way to
00:24:51
Ottawa all the way to all the way to the
00:24:54
top when you issue those use of force
00:24:58
reports it should trigger the
00:24:59
correctional investigator knowing about
00:25:01
it national headquarters at Correctional
00:25:02
Services knowing about it and should
00:25:04
trigger someone saying what is going on
00:25:06
here
00:25:09
Canada's Correctional Service was
00:25:11
concerned about the number of use of
00:25:14
force reports coming out of Grand Valley
00:25:16
didn't make them look good they decided
00:25:19
to do something about it we have learned
00:25:21
the warden ordered staff to alter
00:25:24
documents to downplay minimize the
00:25:26
guards use of force and the Fifth Estate
00:25:29
has obtained the management plan for
00:25:31
inmate a Smith in at the warden
00:25:34
instructs guards to avoid Ashley
00:25:36
completely to ignore her even if she is
00:25:39
choking herself CSC was worried about
00:25:42
their public image they were saying oh
00:25:44
geez you know too many use of force
00:25:45
incidents here so what CSC decided to do
00:25:48
was we're gonna give direction down the
00:25:50
line you know tell those members not to
00:25:51
intervene until she stops breathing
00:25:53
eventually our members were being told
00:25:55
look at if you go in that cell and you
00:25:57
go and use force to to take the ligature
00:25:59
off her neck you're going to be
00:26:00
disciplined you could be fired if the if
00:26:02
the direction was don't go in while
00:26:06
she's breathing that's what going when
00:26:08
she's dead well we're left asking
00:26:11
ourselves the same question why are why
00:26:13
is the direction coming down the line
00:26:14
not to go in and preserve her life
00:26:18
Ashley Smith was a time bomb waiting to
00:26:21
go off
00:26:21
[Music]
00:26:25
Ashley's story continues when we come
00:26:28
back I thought I actually was coming
00:26:30
home
00:26:31
I never thought Ashley was gonna die in
00:26:34
prison once her daughter was sent to the
00:26:43
federal prison system Coralie Smith
00:26:45
couldn't keep track of her Corrections
00:26:48
Canada transferred Ashley 17 times
00:26:51
between nine institutions in less than a
00:26:55
year last time I visited Ashley at Nova
00:27:00
her eyes were off I thought she was on
00:27:03
drugs she told me later she had lost
00:27:05
sight in one eye she looked like an aged
00:27:08
woman her hair was falling out in the 11
00:27:11
months that she was in the federal
00:27:12
system she lost 90 pounds Ashley was
00:27:17
strangling herself so often the veins in
00:27:20
her face had burst while she did see a
00:27:23
psychologist every day she was never
00:27:26
fully assess or meaningfully treated she
00:27:29
wasn't in one place long enough Ashley's
00:27:34
father wants to know where was that
00:27:36
psychological care Corrections Canada
00:27:38
promised they were supposed to give her
00:27:41
therapy and they were supposed to send
00:27:42
her to a psychiatrist which I don't
00:27:44
think they did they didn't do that they
00:27:52
just out of sight out of mind
00:27:54
leave her there and that's it
00:27:57
correctional investigator Howard sabers
00:28:00
points out that failure to provide care
00:28:03
is against the law so is keeping someone
00:28:05
in segregation indefinitely there's laws
00:28:09
about the mandatory review of placement
00:28:13
and segregation which is the the most
00:28:16
austere form of confinement in Canada
00:28:20
those laws around segregation around
00:28:23
mental health care around transfer were
00:28:27
not respected so
00:28:30
in Ashley Smith's case those laws were
00:28:33
broken yes Corrections Canada was
00:28:37
supposed to review Ashley's file after
00:28:40
she spent 60 days in segregation
00:28:42
well they got around that law with the
00:28:45
bureaucratic sleight of hand they just
00:28:47
moved her to another segregation cell in
00:28:50
another institution that way the 60-day
00:28:53
clock started all over again she was
00:28:57
moved from one segregation cell to
00:28:58
another to another to another and they
00:29:00
justified it how their own operational
00:29:03
requirements they felt that they had
00:29:05
exhausted themselves at a particular
00:29:06
place but they were giving themselves
00:29:08
respite so they offloaded her to
00:29:10
somebody else well they certainly moved
00:29:13
her and moved her frequently and they
00:29:17
did not move her according to the policy
00:29:19
requirements for for transfers one of
00:29:23
the few visitors actually was allowed
00:29:25
was prison advocate Kim and pate she
00:29:30
wanted someone to talk to she wanted
00:29:31
something to do she wanted to go home
00:29:34
she kept acting out she kept pushing
00:29:37
them pushing their buttons
00:29:39
she was the architect and sounds of her
00:29:42
own misfortune in some way well that's
00:29:45
certainly the image that the corrections
00:29:48
would want us to believe so I'm not
00:29:50
suggesting that Ashley or anybody else
00:29:53
in those situations is easy to deal with
00:29:55
but they're in the system that is well
00:29:58
resourced to meet to address those needs
00:30:00
and if they can't then there are
00:30:02
mechanisms that they could get her into
00:30:03
a mental hospital
00:30:05
did actually want to die do you think
00:30:08
when I saw Ashley I don't think she
00:30:10
wanted to die
00:30:12
I know that she was using the tying the
00:30:14
ligatures around her neck to just pass
00:30:17
out to sleep she was using it sometimes
00:30:20
because she knew staff would go in to
00:30:21
see her then and I can't imagine craving
00:30:24
human contact enough but I would do
00:30:26
something that I know is going to result
00:30:28
in a violent intervention saw Ashley I
00:30:33
asked a number of people to intervene
00:30:35
right up to the regional and national
00:30:37
level and to my knowledge nobody did
00:30:41
they just shuffled Ashley from one
00:30:44
prison to another monitoring her every
00:30:48
move
00:30:48
a prison camera will also be recording
00:30:52
and on the day she dies
00:30:59
knowing that you're watching somebody in
00:31:01
the last minutes of their life is very
00:31:04
difficult thing to do in the
00:31:08
correctional staff on-site at that time
00:31:10
of course they didn't know that they
00:31:12
didn't know that they were dealing with
00:31:13
somebody in the last moments of their
00:31:14
life it was horrible but I think I saw
00:31:19
it three times it's there I can see it
00:31:21
right now it's there is that why you
00:31:23
don't sleep at night yeah my things huh
00:31:26
you know but I don't dream about it
00:31:29
I don't have nightmares about Ashley I
00:31:31
don't have nightmares about Ashley
00:31:33
I have day mirrors yeah it's fixed there
00:31:38
forever totally wants the videotape of
00:31:43
her daughter's final moments made public
00:31:46
Corrections has fought her at every turn
00:31:48
but a judge has allowed the fifth the
00:31:51
state to view it and tell you what's on
00:31:53
it Grand Valley institution October 19
00:31:58
2007 a guard radios for help
00:32:11
is my belief that there's not a single
00:32:14
person that expected including Ashley
00:32:18
that expected Ashley Smith to die that
00:32:22
moment because she expected people to
00:32:25
come in and they didn't and they thought
00:32:27
it would be just another day at work
00:32:31
you can hear guards call Ashley's name
00:32:34
through the door she doesn't respond but
00:32:37
guards don't go into her cell the order
00:32:40
had come down
00:32:41
[Music]
00:32:47
[Music]
00:33:01
okay all right the protocol was very
00:33:03
clear
00:33:04
Jason Godin Ontario president of the
00:33:07
guards union insists they had no choice
00:33:11
our members were not to enter Ashley
00:33:13
Smith cell until she stopped breathing
00:33:15
there was a tremendous amount of
00:33:17
direction given a verbal direction to
00:33:19
all the members from all levels of
00:33:21
Management you're not going to go in the
00:33:22
cell until she stops breathing and if
00:33:24
you go in that cell you could suffer the
00:33:26
repercussions a disciplinary
00:33:28
investigation you could lose your job
00:33:35
[Applause]
00:33:40
suddenly stop reading it go ahead 12
00:33:42
minutes later Ashley is still not moving
00:33:45
they're talking about you know making
00:33:48
sure that certain people are present
00:33:51
that certain policies are being followed
00:33:53
that camera is running it's not running
00:33:58
at one point they do go in to the cell
00:34:03
then they and what do they do when
00:34:05
they're in the cell very little and they
00:34:08
went in and they come out and they went
00:34:11
in and they come out and nobody
00:34:13
approached her I mean this girl's down
00:34:15
on the floor what human beings do that
00:34:20
by the time guards cut the ligature and
00:34:23
realize Ashley is unconscious it's too
00:34:27
late
00:34:28
these were seven guards who fought
00:34:31
between 25 and 30 minutes watched a 19
00:34:34
year old girl kill herself those are
00:34:37
those officers took a choice and lose my
00:34:40
job
00:34:41
have somebody die in front of me they
00:34:44
didn't want to stand outside the cell
00:34:46
and watch her die either their
00:34:49
livelihood was threatened
00:34:55
I find myself in an immense difficulty
00:35:04
understanding it would you have gone in
00:35:07
what I've got in I've asked myself that
00:35:10
question could I put myself in their
00:35:13
shoes and what would I do for me knowing
00:35:20
that somebody's life is at risk and
00:35:23
they're just on the other side of a door
00:35:25
I think I would do everything in my
00:35:26
power to get through that door
00:35:30
after serving three years 11 months and
00:35:34
15 days inmate Ashley Smith is
00:35:37
pronounced dead at 8:10 a.m. who gave
00:35:42
that order Hana who gave the order don't
00:35:45
intervene if she's still breathing
00:35:55
I miss you
00:36:05
your mother said hello herb has been
00:36:11
coming to his daughter's grave every day
00:36:13
for two years ever since Ashley killed
00:36:17
herself in federal custody in front of
00:36:19
seven guards who did nothing to stop her
00:36:24
thinking about your loss
00:36:36
after Ashley's death grand Valley's
00:36:38
deputy warden and warden lost their jobs
00:36:42
a manager and three guards were also
00:36:45
fired and charged with criminal
00:36:46
negligence causing death union spokesman
00:36:50
Jason Godin believes his guards took the
00:36:53
fall for higher-ups were these guys
00:36:56
scapegoated absolutely they were escape
00:36:58
code advisers by senior management in
00:37:00
Correctional Services I used the term
00:37:03
they were thrown to the dogs they were
00:37:05
thrown to the wolves there was a
00:37:07
cover-up this union has made that very
00:37:09
clear since the very beginning there's
00:37:11
been a cover-up we blame solely the
00:37:13
administration we blame the federal
00:37:15
sentence women's sector we blame
00:37:17
Corrections Canada there was daily
00:37:20
Direction given right from the highest
00:37:22
levels of management all the way to the
00:37:23
frontline staff and we're not talking
00:37:25
once or twice we're talking every day
00:37:26
repeatedly you're not to go in the cell
00:37:28
this is your orders who gave that order
00:37:30
Hanna those are the questions we can't
00:37:34
bring Ashley back but those are the
00:37:35
questions who gave the order to keep
00:37:37
that child we're talking about a child
00:37:39
in the youth center segregated that
00:37:41
length of time who gave the order don't
00:37:43
intervene if she's still breathing
00:37:50
that's what no one wants to talk about
00:37:53
charges against the guards were dropped
00:37:56
they got their jobs back now none of
00:37:59
them wants to come on camera for
00:38:01
Canada's Correctional Service the case
00:38:04
is closed
00:38:05
the Ashley Smith case is a sad and
00:38:09
tragic one
00:38:10
in fact she probably never should have
00:38:12
ended up in a prison but it is a classic
00:38:14
model of the failure of our health care
00:38:17
system and then our correction system to
00:38:20
adequately care for the mentally ill in
00:38:22
society Peter van loan the minister
00:38:26
responsible for Canada's prison system
00:38:28
is satisfied Ashley's case was
00:38:31
thoroughly investigated and appropriate
00:38:33
action taken people were disciplined but
00:38:37
people are very low on the ladder
00:38:39
we're not wardens as well we're
00:38:40
suspended and disciplined and dismissed
00:38:42
right up to the top of the institution
00:38:44
so but where is the top who it's not
00:38:48
fair to say that discipline was only at
00:38:50
the bottom it was throughout the
00:38:52
institution so people paid consequences
00:38:54
for misconduct from that site did the
00:38:57
person say don't go into her cell while
00:38:59
she's I'm not gonna comment on any
00:39:02
specifics it might play into a lawsuit
00:39:04
though well clearly I wasn't in the
00:39:06
prison at the time I wasn't Minister at
00:39:09
the time so no but your best to talk to
00:39:11
Corrections Canada about those kinds of
00:39:13
details Corrections Canada refused any
00:39:19
interviews about Ashley Smith's
00:39:21
incarceration or her death since Ashley
00:39:24
died 17 more inmates have committed
00:39:27
suicide in federal custody
00:39:29
prison investigator Howard safer's
00:39:32
predicts if Corrections Canada refuses
00:39:35
to
00:39:35
significant improvements more prisoners
00:39:38
will die we don't have a sign over our
00:39:41
prisons that says abandon all hope all
00:39:44
ye who enter right it's called a
00:39:46
Correctional Service for a reason people
00:39:48
are sent to prison as a punishment
00:39:50
imposed by the court the prison is not
00:39:53
supposed to add pain to that punishment
00:39:56
Canada should know this is what's
00:39:58
happening to our young people there's
00:40:00
young people in jail for minor
00:40:02
infractions for mental conditions not
00:40:05
being treated and held four five six
00:40:08
seven eight years do people really know
00:40:12
about that I don't think so
00:40:14
[Music]
00:40:21
it'd never be right for Ashley
00:40:23
they took her life Ashley didn't take
00:40:25
her life they did Ashley was driven
00:40:28
because the girl that left here was not
00:40:31
suicidal she was not scared she was not
00:40:33
gay
00:40:34
she was not trying to choke herself out
00:40:38
where did she get it
00:40:40
but they told her that's not what she
00:40:43
was taught at home
00:40:44
[Music]
00:40:46
through the whole system they fail they
00:40:49
all failed
00:40:50
[Music]
