OTTAWA — The risk that more mentally ill inmates will needlessly die behind bars is still unacceptably high, says the federal prison watchdog.

This, almost two years after 19-year-old Ashley Smith choked herself to death with a strip of cloth at the Grand Valley prison for women in Kitchener, Ont.

Sapers has slammed the correctional service for not providing the care, treatment and protection Smith so desperately needed. Her relentless stints in isolation were not properly reviewed, nor was the fact that she was transferred 17 times in 11 months, he found.

"Until accountability is strengthened through cultural and governance changes, the likelihood of future deaths like Ashley's remains unacceptably high."

He also renewed his call that national boards investigating suicide and self-injury in prison be led by independent mental health professionals.

It says corrections has put new procedures in place to "strengthen accountability in its security practices and use of force interventions. In addition, the preservation of life has been communicated and reinforced extensively across the organization to all levels of staff."

Of those, corrections reports that 71 inmates died of natural causes, 17 committed suicide, eight died of "unknown causes", four were murdered and four overdosed.

She is considering suing the federal government.

"They have stonewalled the family in terms of access to reports about their daughter's death. It shows a gross insensitivity and makes clear that from the narrow, specific perspective of Ashley's death, they've learned nothing.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan stressed in a statement that recruiting and keeping enough mental health specialists on staff is an ongoing struggle.

The government is evaluating funding levels for related services, Van Loan said in a statement. They include almost $17 million a year for mental health services in 58 prisons across Canada.