Prison farm supporters will be meeting with prison officials next week to plot the next steps in re-opening the prison farms at the Collins Bay and Joyceville institutions.
In Tuesday’s budget, the federal government committed more than $4 million to get the farms, which employ inmates, back in business — some eight years after they were closed by the then-Conservative government.
Supporters never gave up the fight, says Jeff Peters from the group Save Our Prison Farms.
“It’s been a long road but I really respect the process that they went through. This government, they did it right, although we’re all impatient, they asked for consultation. Six thousand people said they want the prison farms returned and you can’t ignore that type of response.”
Peters is one of a handful of area farmers that have been boarding prison farm cattle since the facility was closed.
Andrew McCann, who is also with Save Our Prison Farms, is pleased with the move, but won’t officially celebrate until he sees “The cows to come home.”
“This was always more than a single issue campaign for us and that’s why we poured our lives into it. It’s about this farm land, 800-some acres that could grow enough vegetables to feed Kingston. It’s about protecting that for the future of food in our city. It’s about justice and how we do rehabilitation.”
McCann is also hoping that the new program will contain a research component that will allow the government to track the effects of inmates that take part.
The 2010 closure of the country’s prison farms by the Stephen Harper’s government – six in total operating at institutions in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta – was highly controversial.
Opponents argued the decision was made without properly considering the essential skills the farms taught participating inmates. There was also criticism that local community members had not been adequately consulted.
— With files from Canadian Press
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