The federal government wants to close all six prison farms across Canada. In eastern Ontario, this would mean closing the Frontenac prison farm, in Kingston, which has a 133-head milking herd and 9,000 flock of laying hens. The dairy herd will be sold at a dispersal next year. It also means closing the Pittsburg farm at Joyceville and its abbatoir. Is this a good idea?

One thing for sure: arguing that jobs will be lost is not a good enough argument on it own, not in any economic climate. Societal benefits must be shown to earn taxpayer support. In the case of the prison farms, they are actually profitable, supplying other prisons with food. The federal government argues the skills learned at the prison farms don’t help inmates prepare for work in the outside world. That’s no argument. Most university courses don’t prepare students for a job either.

Caring for animals and preparing food for others offer its own rewards, opportunities to mature and satisfaction in seeing the fruit of one’s labour. There’s also a dignity in seeing one’s work benefit others — it’s a lot more gratifying than sitting in the common room watching television. One inmate, who worked at a Kingston-area apple orchard while in the slammer, upon release, went to work for that farmer and is now a farm manager. Orchard Meadow Farms owner Mike Schenk, near Bath, says he’s hired former inmates in the past.

"The animals are calming and inmates like it," said Frontenac prison’s production supervisor Ron Amey. "They ask to come to the farm. People have come to us as basket cases and leave a better person. It’s theraeutic. They learn responsibility looking after animals and they’ve never had that before."

Surely, these opportunities and benefits count for something.

— P. Meagher