Opponents of government plans to close six prison farms across Canada rallied on Parliament Hill March 30 to demand the policy be reversed.
The federal government announced last year that six prison farms across the country will be closed by March 31, 2011. It includes farms in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
For Correctional Service Canada, farms are being closed because agricultural skills taught to inmates on the farms are out of step with a modern economy.
The decision has inspired an opposition coalition that includes prisoner rights defenders, prison guards, former Correctional Service executives, the National Farmers Union and opposition MPs.
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Correctional Service regional deputy commissioner for Ontario Ross Toller told MPs on Parliament Hill March 25 that the decision reflects a government attempt to prepare inmates for workforce integration once they are released.
“All offenders participating in the farming program did gain employability skills such as responsibility, team work, accountability and farming skills, yet relatively few offenders found work in agriculture once released into society,” he told MPs on the Commons committee on public safety and national security.
The alternative will be to teach inmates more useful skills that can be used in manufacturing, construction and textile industries, he said.
Toller said only 99 of 25,000 released inmates found work in agriculture.
“The difficulty is very clear that from those people that leave our facilities to seek employment, the agricultural sector is not a viable, realistic market right now,” he said.
Toller also contradicted critics who have argued the prison farm land is needed to build bigger prisons to accommodate the Conservative government’s agenda of putting more people in prison.
“I can tell you that no final decision has been made on future use of the land that was used for farming but for the time being, the commissioner is open to discussions about leasing portions of the land to local farmers provided the security of the facilities are not jeopardized,” he told MPs.
Rural Liberal and former solicitor general Wayne Easter said he toured the farms and talked to inmates involved in the program. The skills they learn, like any farm worker, can be used in many trades beyond agriculture.
The reference to the number of former inmates who go into agricultural employment is irrelevant, he said, although the sector is projecting an employee shortage of tens of thousands in the next decade.
