At least nine protesters were arrested earlier this week during demonstrations opposing the closure of Canada’s prison farms.
The arrests took place Aug. 8-9 at the Frontenac Institution, a minimum- security facility in Kingston, Ont., which was home to a herd of 300 purebred Holstein dairy cattle.
The herd, which supplied fresh milk to inmates, was slated to be transported last weekend to an auction facility in Waterloo, Ont.
Dianne Dowling, a local president of the National Farmers Union and organizer of the Save Our Prison Farms campaign, said some protesters set up a peaceful blockade by linking their arms in front of trucks and cattle trailers that were attempting to enter the prison grounds.
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Dowling said about 600 protesters and more than 150 police officers attended the demonstration over two days.
She expressed regret that the herd will be sold and Frontenac’s farm program terminated.
“This is an effective rehabilitation and training program … and the inmates that work on the farm do not reoffend nearly as much as the general (prison) population. As Canadian citizens, this is valuable to us.”
According to Dowling, the Save Our Prison Farms campaign was initially established to address concerns over the use of agricultural land at Frontenac.
There were also concerns that a prison-run abattoir in Kingston would be closed.
Dowling said several hundred livestock producers in the Kingston area use the prison abattoir to process meat, which is sold for premium prices at the farmgate or through local farmers’ markets.
Frontenac’s farm is one of six prison farms slated for closure in Canada.
Following a 2008 review of federal prison programs, Ottawa announced its intent to close all prison farms.
Others were located in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
Frontenac’s dairy herd was the last of four to be sold in Canada.
With the herd now gone, Corrections Canada will source milk from an outside supplier for about $1 million annually.
