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Protesters, placard-bearing donkey urge feds to save prison farms

Tuesday, Mar 30, 2010 05:00 pm | THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - A coalition of protesters with a placard-bearing donkey in tow is on Parliament Hill to urge MPs to save the country's prison farms.

Members of the Campaign to Save Prison Farms were appearing before the Commons public-safety committee seeking a reprieve for the six facilities, which are being phased out over two years.

The farms have been providing work for inmates since the 1880s, but Corrections Canada officials say they are no longer an effective form of rehabilitation.

Some critics and even convicts' advocates like the John Howard Society have said the program, which employs 300 inmates and supplies milk and eggs to prisons, is based on a 19th-century model.

They say it's time to redirect those resources into more contemporary skills and trades.

But Bridget Doherty from the Roman Catholic Sisters of Providence, a coalition member, says the farms are a "step closer to release" and their teamwork and calming effect are important elements of rehabilitation.

"The farms provide a quiet, peaceful environment before release," Doherty said. "We have to ask ourselves: 'Who do we want to return to our communities - a person who has spent years in an aggressive, often violent environment, or someone who has had a chance to heal on the land?"'

Stomy the donkey carried a sign proclaiming himself "PC Prison Consultant."

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