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Two Newfoundland families have launched negligence lawsuits against Corrections Canada over the separate deaths of two women in a Nova Scotia penitentiary, alleging the prison failed to provide proper physical and mental health care in both cases.

Veronica Park and Camille Strickland-Murphy, both from Newfoundland and Labrador, died months apart in 2015 at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro.

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Their families have filed lawsuits earlier this year before the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Truro seeking damages and alleging negligence on the part of the Correctional Service of Canada, with Ottawa lawyer Frances Shapiro Munn leading both cases.

None of the allegations made in the suit have been proven in court, and a statement of defence has not yet been filed by Ottawa.

The agency says it takes the death of any inmate seriously, and took “immediate action” following the deaths to investigate.