ONGOING MANAGEMENT "REIGN OF TERROR" AT GRAND VALLEY INSTITUTION ALLEGED

Well now things are definitely getting heated at the inquest into the death of Ashley Smith. The chief psychologist, Cindy Lanigan, has testifed that there was an ongoing "reign of terror". She described it as a constant badgering and denigration of underlings primarily by the deputy warden. Even she, the chief psychologist, "...felt constantly undermined and her professional confidence eroded by the incessant sniping from above.". These are quite amazing and terrifying revelations. They also tend to clarify the testimony given by the medical doctor at Grand Valley who has testified that she did not know about the orders not to enter and remove ligatures immediately.

The impression that both testimonys is giving me is that as usual political and hierarchical status overules medical experience and opinions. It appears that senior management at Grand Valley were firmly in the driver's seat and would brook no dissenting opinions. That being said both the deputy warden and warden won't be testifyiong until the fall. Their testimony will be interesting in that I wonder how much autonomy versus interference they had from their superiors at the Correctional Service of Canada. Also if indeed the CSC were calling the shots on things like overtime, staffing, use of force reports; did the CSC base their policies on hard medical advice and evidence or not? Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story "Smith inquest told of reign of terror".