Ashley Smith Is The Touchstone

Progress is being made but more has to be done to ensure young people with mental disorders in the province get the treatment they need. That claim being made by Maureen Bilerman of Dots NB who became an activist when her own teenage daughter ran into trouble getting the help she needed. 

Bilerman tells Tide News the early intervention being done at schools in Charlotte County and the Acadian Peninsula is producing, in her words, some amazing results. 

Bilerman uses Ashley Smith as her touchstone and, if she were here today, would the mental health treatment be there to make a difference in her life and avoid a tragic end. 

The 19 year old Smith choked herself to death while jailed in Kitchener, Ontario. Her death is now the subject of an inquest in Toronto.