Don't close prison farms, city council asks Correctional Service of Canada
Posted Jun 24, 2010 By Bill Hutchins
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Tweet ThisEMC News - With time apparently running out to save Canada's prison farms from imminent closure, Kingston councillors are making a last-ditch plea for the federal government to "reconsider" its decision.
"This government is clearly out of touch with the majority of Canadians," said Coun. Rob Matheson, who sponsored the June 15 motion.
Councillors voted unanimously to ask the Conservative government to stop the prison farm closures in Kingston, and to impose a moratorium on the closures until a full public review of the issue takes place. Copies of the resolution were forwarded to the prime minister, attorney general, solicitor general, public safety minister Vic Toews, who oversees Corrections Canada, as well as opposition parties and senior bureaucrats at Corrections Canada.
Coun. Matheson says it's a "political crime" to close the prison farms at minimum security Frontenac and Pittsburgh Institutions when they rehabilitate inmates and support sustainable food growth. He also wondered why Ottawa complained about the four million dollar annual cost to run the farms when it spent over $1 billion on security to host the G-8 and G-20 summits in Toronto and Huntsville this week.
The Matheson motion may not be enough to sway the government which has ordered Canada's six prison farms to be dismantled and closed by March 2011. Inmates will learn non-agricultural skills such as house building and carpentry.
"We need to focus on providing skills that will lend itself to more readily available and longer lasting jobs," explained Ross Toller, regional deputy commissioner for the Correctional Service of Canada, in a presentation to council last March.
The prison farm closure starts with the sale of farm equipment and livestock. The auction of Frontenac Institution's prized dairy herd of 300 could happen as early as this week. About 9,000 chickens will be sold as well.
Members of 'Save Our Prison Farms' have set up a 24 hour command post across from the 900 acre Frontenac Institution (located beside Collins Bay Penitentiary) on Bath Road to keep watch on prison activity. They vowed "civil disobedience" to block any attempt to move livestock off the property for auction.
"Kingston has shown remarkable support for a cause that rarely gets public support - the criminal justice system," said Dianne Dowling with National Farmers Union Local 316.
Council passed a motion more than a year ago asking Ottawa not to close the prison farms, but Dowling asked for a second motion to demonstrate the city's "strength, clarity and commitment" to the cause.
Farm supporters say Ottawa has provided no public analysis of the cost of running the prison farms versus putting locally grown food out to tender under NAFTA regulations. Milk and eggs that are currently produced by the Kingston prison farms to feed fellow inmates in Ontario and Quebec will soon be supplied through contracted companies and will be subject to free trade rules. The prison food supply chain could be done out of Mexico, some believe.
Prison farm supporters dispute claims that inmates could get more rehabilitation by moving them away from the rural setting of driving tractors, milking cows and planting crops. They say agriculture promotes teamwork, reliability and caring for living beings which helps inmates make the transition back into society.
Corrections Canada says the sprawling farmland will be leased to local farmers through a competitive bidding process. However, skeptics believe Corrections' ultimate plan is to transform part of the farm land into a so-called 'super' prison. Prison officials say long-term uses of the farm land have not been decided.
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