Riverbend inmate says prison farm system not just about gaining employment skills

Letter to the Editor
Prince Albert Daily Herald

Correctional Service Canada has deemed that closing the farm camps at minimum-security institutions will be beneficial, as inmates have no interest in farming upon release.

This is not the case. There are many benefits that CSC officials in Ottawa do not acknowledge or recognize.

A farm camp placement saves lives and souls and allows inmates the personal choice to change. The man on the street, hopefully, has found a reason for life.

My story reveals gaining life. I took a life. I have spent 26 years inside our correctional system, and I witnessed the benefits of being at the farm.

I have been at Riverbend Institution coming on two years now. Prior to having received the right to minimum security, I was held inside some of Canada's worst places to be. I had given up on life, the man had won.

I came to Riverbend not expecting much in the way of change. They gave me a work placement at the dairy as a herdsman - what was that? I came here pretty naïve, a relative greenhorn to farming. So what could a guy like me learn at a farm camp? What could possibly benefit me?

The farm camp at Riverbend Institution in Prince Albert gave me the will to live, the need to witness life.

I have not only worked as a herdsman. I had the opportunity, through the farm, to learn some valuable lessons, from fence building to equipment operation to calf pulling. I have worked with and on the calves, brought them back to life.

Why would that be novel? Twenty years ago I took a life. Now I have been involved with giving life. All the skills I have learned at this farm camp have allowed me to gain some serious insights.

The farm has allowed me the space to personally develop into a compassionate human being. I have seriously gained insight into myself, which would not have occurred if I were still inside the walls. The farm has saved my life. In any other situation, where a program can save only one life, it is justified and worthwhile.

There are some 120 guys here - not all work on the farm, not all will gain the personal respect and growth I have gained. I feel I am the winner in this situation, as the farm camp served the purpose it was intended to serve. I gained a work ethic, the chance to be responsible, and the ability to be trusted and to trust. It has been a long road. I still have some ways to go.

Working with the livestock has allowed me to become compassionate. I have gained the animals' trust. I have fed calves, trained them and in some cases, have been their mother, strange as that may seem. My progress has allowed the National Parole Board to grant me escorted temporary absences, which will lead to unescorted temporary absences and day parole in the near future. This trust in me was gained by my being at the farm. This would not have occurred if I didn't have the chance to come to Riverbend.

The farm camp should be considered a beneficial program to the CSC and should be preserved to allow inmates to change. Without it, what will become of hope?

I worked for the best guy in the world, Garry Forrest. Garry taught me how to work, how to listen and most importantly, how to respect others. If it was not for his dedication to running the farm camp it would have been a failure from the beginning and I would not be where I am today. Garry gave me self-pride and self-worth, something not easily instilled in a career criminal.

Having the farm and the opportunity to be here has allowed me to progress to the point where I am no longer dangerous to the public. Without the farm camp, what would I be today? If I could have my own farm I would consider it my life, then the system would really have won.

SAVE THE FARM.

Donald James McGregor
Riverbend Institution inmate

Prince Albert

(As told to G.K. Summers)

http://www.paherald.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=283198&sc=643