Female offenders with serious underlying mental health issues in Ontario’s jails deserve the same access to treatment their male counterparts have had for more than a decade. Leeds-Grenville MPP Steve Clark emphasized that point Wednesday in Question Period, calling on Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi to work with the federal government to establish a treatment program for women offenders at the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre’s Secure Treatment Unit in Brockville. Clark notes the world-class treatment model developed in Brockville over the past 11 years works for mentally ill male offenders whose lives have been turned around. Clark says the Coroner’s Inquest into the Ashley Smith tragedy was a wake-up call that we must act immediately to get women offenders who are suffering from mental illness the treatment they need.