Atwood leads rally opposing prison farm closures

Jun 10, 2010

Jeff Peters of NFU local 316 organizes marchers at Sunday’s rally in Kingston

With the looming closures of six prison farms across the country, over 800 people gathered at a rally at the Sydenham United Church in Kingston on June 7 to hear a number of speakers from various groups declare their outrage at the Conservative government’s refusal to reverse their decision to close six prison farms across the country, two of which are located at the Frontenac and Pittsburgh Institutions in Kingston.

The groups have opposed the closures, stating that the farms are economically feasible, beneficial to agriculture and good for public safety.

Civil disobedience was the topic of the day as many group leaders vowed to take whatever non-violent action is necessary to prevent the closures and the upcoming auctioning off of the Frontenac Institution’s dairy herd which is slated to take place on June 21.

Contact forms were circulated during the rally asking for willing volunteers to do what is necessary to prevent the herd’s removal.

Former Frontenac inmate and prison farm worker John Leeman spoke, saying that the farms are rehabilitative and prepared him for work as a heavy equipment operator when he re-entered society 19 years ago. He had entered the prison system as a 16-year-old with no education or work experience.

Sister Pauline Lally of the Sisters of Providence said, “I’m not soft on crime but I am big on rehabilitation and that is what these farm programs do.” She asked the crowd, “Why would Corrections (Canada) correct something that is working and working well?” She argued that the farms, which provide prisons with milk, eggs and other goods, are sustainable and said, “We are asking that a moratorium be placed on any dismantling of prison farms until independent experts have had an opportunity to review the value of the farm program.”

The conservative government has maintained that the farms operate at a cost of 4 million dollars a year; that they are not profitable and do not provide useful skills to inmates, though they have never brought forth the numbers to substantiate that claim.

Farmer Jeff Peters, director of the NFU Local 316 riled up the crowd stating, “Farmers are the backbone of our community,” and “You, the Canadian public are the real owners are these farms.” He told any “moles” or “spies” in the crowd to “go back and tell your people that we are going to win.”

Speaker Aric McBay reiterated the call for an immediate moratorium on the closures until the numbers are produced. He stated point blank, “The government claims they are concerned about the (prison) farm’s $4 million budget but they are happy to throw away $1 billion on fences and private security for a 4 day summit.” He used examples of successful movements that in the past used civil disobedience - the suffragettes and blacks in the southern United States and Gandhi who turned the tides through peaceful, democratic means. “If a government fails to be accountable it’s our job to make it accountable…..and that’s where civil disobedience comes in.” He added, “Civil disobedience is not a deviation from democracy but an essential part of democracy.”

Margaret Atwood spoke last and stated, “The government’s plan to close prison farms is a wasted opportunity and a direct contribution not to increase public safety but to increase public poverty, public danger and public instability.”

In her final remarks Atwood demanded of the government, “It’s time to come down from your ideological ballasts and get down to earth because that’s where the food comes from.”

After the rally Atwood led supporters on a walk to Corrections Canada’s regional headquarters on King Street where a manifesto opposing the closures stating “Prison Farms belong to all Canadians. Stop ignoring democracy. Save the farms… Now!” was tacked to the door.

For more information visit www.saveourfarms.ca