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What's At Stake Neither the Harper government nor Correctional Service Canada can offer a sound rationale for eliminating prison farm programs.
The basic responsibility of government is to develop and implement sound policies that serve the broad public interest. Canadians, increasingly cynical about the motives of our politicians, want evidence of thoughtful planning for the future, not short-term ad hoc decisions based on cash grabs and partisan agendas. There should be only one test: is a policy good for Canada and Canadians. Dismantling federal prison farm programs fails this test. A hasty and ill-considered move, it’s the result of a dictate from the Harper government to cut spending regardless of the public interest. And it ignores the greater social price to be paid by gutting the farm programs that make up a miniscule per cent of Correctional Service Canada’s annual expenditures. CSC claims the move is part of some master plan. But they refuse to share this plan with employees, the Union or the public. We’ve been forced to resort to the lengthy Access to Information process in an attempt to obtain a copy! If this was a carefully-considered policy decision, why does CSC admit they have yet to figure out replacement rehabilitation and training programs for the inmates currently in its farm programs?
The Harper government misses the point in claiming that few inmates in the farm programs eventually find work in the agricultural sector. For one thing, they don’t know. We do know that, as of 2005, agriculture itself accounted for eight per cent of Canada’s GDP and provided 2.1 million jobs. And that’s without considering the manufacturing and retail jobs between the farm and the consumer. That’s a big job market. More importantly, successful rehabilitation goes beyond training inmates for any one particular job upon release from an institution. Whether an individual succeeds in reintegrating into society is much more dependent on his or her social skills. And it is in this area that CSC’s farming programs truly excel. The farm programs breed character and develop strong work habits. Inmates learn the importance of personal responsibility in taking care of animals and making a farm work. It teaches early-rising, hard work, the value of timeliness and self-reliance. All this leads to a sense of self-worth that is critical to overcoming the many real challenges former inmates find upon their release. The farm programs do much more than simply teach an inmate how to milk a cow! They also learn mechanical skills and equipment operation in growing and processing vegetables, dairy, beef and poultry products. The simple fact that inmates are in daily contact with animals is also an intangible but logical assist to successful rehabilitation. We know the calming, therapeutic effect of animals on troubled people. That’s why animals are regularly used in hospitals and nursing homes and in community programs dealing with autism and other psychological issues. Given that many inmates come from dysfunctional backgrounds, where caring and affection were in short supply, the farm programs often provide a first opportunity to develop empathy. Given the above, it is quite frankly nonsense for the Conservative government to suggest that inmates participating in the farm program fail to gain useful knowledge and practical skills.
Little thought is given in Ottawa to just how integrated prison farms are with their surrounding communities. The Institutions provide jobs, make sizable local purchases and support community activities. The case of the Kingston-area abattoir owned by local businessman Bruce Wallace is one example of a mutually-beneficial arrangement between community and Institution. Wallace employs 10 inmates from the Pittsburgh Institution farm program. Their salaries are paid by Correctional Service Canada. The 50-odd cattle processed each week come from some 300 local beef farmers. The meat is sold to local restaurants, butcher shops and to CSC for use at its six area correctional facilities. In exchange for ‘free labour’, Wallace provides the Pittsburgh inmates with highly-practical meat industry skills in an environment that fosters both self-respect and team-building. The owner notes that he is aware of a number of prisoners who have gone to work in the industry on release from the Institution. In business for 14 years, Wallace faced having to move his operation. However, even the government saw the value of Wallace’s partnership with Pittsburgh Institution. In mid-May, the Public Safety Minister announced that the abattoir would remain in operation and would not be forced to relocate ─ further evidence of the viability of additional job creation and training initiatives between CSC Institutions and local businesses. Yet, this was but one isolated reprieve. There's no doubt about it — CSC’s elimination of farm programs will hurt local businesses.
“This 900-acre penitentiary farm (is) located in the west end of the city of Kingston, well within the city limits — a real estate developer’s dream, if only they could get their hands on the property.” That quote comes from an article on Kingston-area prison farms that appeared in a CSC publication three years ago. With Kingston’s Mayor already planning subdivisions and industrial parks on this prime farmland, the irony is not lost on those concerned with the significant amounts of farmland permanently removed from food production each year. Environmentally-conscious, sustainable agriculture has seized the public’s attention. The demand for both organic and locally-sourced food is surging. All this flows from Canadians becoming more and more anxious about food safety and nutrition. Canada’s prison farms sit on some of the most desirable agricultural land in their regions. Many are close to urban areas. While that should ideally place them to profit from the demand for organic and locally-produced food, abandonment of CSC’s farm programs places the surplus farmland under threat from development. Paradise may well indeed be paved over. Should the government resist the temptation to sell off the decommissioned farmland to the private sector, this is no guarantee that this rich farmland will ever be returned to production. It is an open secret that CSC is planning to construct a series of huge mega-prisons of a size never before seen in this country. Adding abandoned prison farm land to the total acreage occupied by an existing correctional facility creates prime real estate for these monstrous new Institutions.
There’s the old saying about knowing ‘the cost of everything and the value of nothing’. It’s clear that the Harper government and CSC fail to grasp the value of prison farm programs. What’s even more disturbing is that they have no understanding of the cost implications. The claim that the six existing prison farms lose $4-million a year is unsubstantiated. It’s a number pulled out of a hat. What we do know is that incarcerating inmates in federal institutions is a costly business. You would think that any rehabilitation program that actually saved taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars would be celebrated. Yet, that’s precisely what the prison farm program does. The produce, beef, pork, poultry, eggs, milk and grains raised by the inmate farmers feeds the entire local prison populations. Food products now provided by the farm program would need to be purchased if the program ends. Anyone who’s been in a grocery store recently knows that food prices are rising. Why hasn’t CSC included this cost in its one-sided ‘guesstimates’? The Globe and Mail recently reported that the federal government spent $15.7-million on bottled water over the past five years. That alone comes close to matching CSC’s alleged ‘cost’ of the farm prison program. Canadians like to see their hard-earned tax dollars spent effectively. The prison farm program does just that!
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