The family of a New Brunswick-born teenager who died in an Ontario jail is suing the federal government for $11 million, alleging that Ashley Smith's death resulted from improper treatment at the hands of her jailers.

Smith was only 19 years old when she died after choking herself to death at Ontario's Grand Valley Institution for Women, nearly two years ago.

Prison guards watched Smith while she tied a homemade ligature around her neck and slowly choked to death. Court transcripts have shown that the guards had been instructed not to intervene if the teenager was still breathing. Smith was later pronounced dead in hospital, the cause of death being asphyxiation.

An eventual report by the Correctional Investigator of Canada called the New Brunswick teenager's death "preventable."

Her mother, Coralee Smith, says "the justice system let my daughter down."

"I owe it to Ashley to ensure that the truth comes out about how she was treated," Smith said in a statement released by the family's lawyer on Thursday.

"After two years of looking for answers, I do not believe there is any prospect of the real story coming out without taking those responsible to court."

Listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit:

  • Coralee Smith and her husband, Herb Gorber, both of Moncton, N.B.
  • the estate of Ashley Smith
  • the teenager's older sister, Dawna Ward, of Dartmouth, N.S.

Together, they are seeking $6 million in damages for Smith's estate and $5 million in damages for her surviving family members.

The Attorney General of Canada, as well as various Correctional Service of Canada staff members and officials, are listed as the defendants, from whom the plaintiffs are seeking the $11 million in damages. None of the defendants had filed a statement of defence as of the early part of Thursday afternoon.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

The Correctional Service of Canada said it had just received the claim and will respond in due course, "however, it would be inappropriate to comment further as the matter is before the court."

Statement of Claim

A statement of claim, filed in Ontario Superior Court on July 14, describes the circumstances leading up to Smith's death.

Smith entered the federal prison system on Oct. 31, 2006, when she was 18 years old.

By the time she died, less than 12 months later, the New Brunswick teenager had been transferred 17 separate times between facilities in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

The lawsuit alleges that Smith's jailers broke administrative rules during her many transfers, by failing to give her proper notice and to explain the reasons for them, among other alleged problems.

It also claims that correctional staff illegally kept Smith in administrative segregation and did not adequately respond to her formal grievances and allegations of poor treatment. Prison staff also failed to report cases of use of force involving Smith, and did not provide her with "competent and reasonable health care" the lawsuit says.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that several prison staff members acted in a "conspiracy" to illegally keep Smith in segregation in a way that would not trigger a review.

From her earliest days in prison, the teenager "engaged in repeated self-injurious behaviour, most commonly self-strangulation with make-shift ligatures," the lawsuit claims, and found herself in conflict with prison staff.

After her final transfer to the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., Smith did not fare any better when she moved there on Aug. 31, 2007, less than two months before her death.

Under suicide watch for much of her time in Kitchener, Smith was living in an "unsafe and unhygienic" cell, according to the lawsuit. She often slept without a mattress or a blanket, and was not allowed reading or writing materials. She had access to only two pieces of toilet paper at a time.

The lawsuit says Smith's "mental health status worsened and her use of ligatures and other self-injurious behaviours increased" during this time. "Her worsening health condition was known by all of the defendants," it also says.

On Oct. 19, 2007, Smith tied a ligature around her neck while a prison staff member was watching. An officer-in-charge was notified about what was happening, but the staff member was instructed that "no one was to enter the cell" as long as Smith was breathing. The lawsuit claims that six other prison staff members attended the scene after this radio call and another observed the situation from the Maximum Control Unit.

The lawsuit alleges that correctional staff waited nearly 30 minutes to respond to Smith's situation, after watching her "position herself between the wall and her bed and tightly tie a ligature around her neck." At 6:56 a.m., "several officers entered the cell and the ligature was removed."

By that time, it was too late and Smith would soon be pronounced dead.