EDITORIAL: "Ashley Smith tragedy demands a full inquest," published by the Toronto Star on September 29, 2012.
GIST: "How could a teenager strangle herself and die while Kitchener prison guards watched and did nothing to stop her? Ontarians have been waiting for an answer to that question since 2007. Now, unbelievably, three of the Ontario doctors who were responsible for Ashley Smith’s care are set to further delay the coroner’s inquest into her death with a motion to limit what the jury can hear.
No one should be trying to delay these proceedings or limit the scope of this inquiry, least of all medical caregivers. Yet two psychiatrists and a general practitioner are challenging the jurisdiction of the coroner to probe events that occurred outside Ontario..........The presiding coroner, Dr. John Carlisle, has every good reason to want to look at events that took place outside Ontario — those, as much as what happened here, contributed to her suicidal despair and death. Indeed, Carlisle — an experienced lawyer and doctor himself — was brought in as coroner on this case to set right the debacle of a previous, aborted inquest that would have been so limited in scope it couldn’t possibly have gotten to the bottom of what happened. Doctors and correctional officials in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan seemingly had few problems moving Smith across provincial boundaries when she was alive. Lines on a map shouldn’t now be invoked to limit the probe into her tragic death."
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1264241--ashley-smith-tragedy-demands-a-full-inquest
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
