OTTAWA — A public safety committee report that studies mental health and addictions in prisons recommends the federal government restore its prison farm program to help inmates with rehabilitation.
The Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Addiction in the Federal Correctional System report, presented to the House of Commons on Dec. 14, is the result of an investigation that began in April 2009 and was created in response to the death of 19-year-old inmate Ashley Smith who choked to death in her prison cell.
Opposition MPs on the committee held public hearings in Ottawa, visited prisons in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick and interviewed several organizations, such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, before compiling a list of 71 recommendations.
They also visited Norway and England to help with their review of the policies and programs adopted by Correctional Service of Canada.
Among its long list of recommendations, the committee suggested restoring the “excellent” prison farm program because it would offer inmates an opportunity to work with living things. The committee reported that research shows the interaction has a calming and “restorative” effect. It would also help inmates “develop qualities that offenders often lack,” naming respect, empathy, responsibility and dependability as examples.
In August, animals from the Frontenac Institution in Kingston, Ont., were shipped to the Ontario Livestock Exchange in Waterloo, Ont., killing the last of six prison farms across Canada.
In February 2009, Correctional Service of Canada said it would close the nation’s prison farms by March 2011. About 300 prisoners worked at the farms, and learned to take care of animals, harvest crops, cut meats, pasteurize milk and sort eggs. The products were sent to nearby prisons and leftovers were donated to local food banks.
The federal government recorded $7.5 million in revenues from the six farms in 2007-08, but expenses were $11.6 million, leaving CSC with nearly $4 million in operation costs for the farms.
At the time, officials decided the money put into the farming program would be better used to “provide more relevant employment skills” to rehabilitate prisoners in contemporary trades.
The animals from the Kingston prison farm sold for $293,000 and the government made another $623,590 off the cattle sold from other prison farm closures, according to records obtained in August by Postmedia News.
The report states that about 80 per cent of offenders serving sentences of two years or more in Canada’s 57 federal penitentiaries have problems with drugs or alcohol.
It urged Correctional Service of Canada to “give priority” to improve how it handles mental-health issues: the authors say the prison environment is harmful to mental health.
“This is a public-safety issue because offenders who fail to receive appropriate treatment while in custody are more likely to reoffend after release, thus threatening the security of all Canadians,” the report states.
A Conservative spokesman said the government’s priorities are focused on keeping law-abiding Canadian families safe while ensuring victims receive support that they need.
"We could not disagree more with the misguided priorities of the Ignatieff Liberals and their coalition partners," Chris McCluskey, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in an email.
He said opposition parties "refuse to accept" that none of the offenders who participated in the prison farm program found employment in the agricultural sector.
Over the past five years, less than one per cent of those released found related employment.
"The failed prison farm program operated at a net loss of $4.1 million annually. Our government will instead continue to support programs that provide offenders with marketable skills for today’s employment realities," McCluskey said.
Read more: http://www.canada.com/health/Restore+prison+farms+inmates+public+safety+committee+report+says/4038880/story.html#ixzz19ZJClPY6
