MEDIA RELEASES

Media Release: Corrections Canada Training Prisoners to Kill, Violating Human Rights. August 25, 2022. A new report has been published documenting years of violations at Canada’s last remaining prison abattoir. Bloody Bad Business: Report on the Joyceville Institution Abattoir features never-before-seen documentation exposing a spectrum of infractions at this federally owned abattoir where prisoners kill for a private company, Wallace Beef Inc, in a commercial slaughter operation labelled “offender training.” Read more.

Media Release: Prison Farms Can Relieve Food Shortages. April 9, 2020. Advocates want prison farms to feed food banks during COVID-19 pandemic. “Instead of proceeding with the planned industrial goat dairy for Chinese infant formula, there is a substantially more advantageous and urgent approach that can be implemented,” says Calvin Neufeld. Read more.

Media Release: Prison Farms Spark Resistance. June 10, 2019. The introduction of beef and dairy cows at Joyceville and Collins Bay Institutions has sparked public controversy. Justice advocacy group Evolve Our Prison Farms announced today it would begin holding weekly vigils in front of Collins Bay Institution every Tuesday from 5-6pm, beginning June 11, to highlight their concerns over the new prison farms. Read more.

Media Release: David Suzuki, Margaret Atwood Want Prison Farms to Evolve. April 10, 2019. In a filmed interview with Evolve Our Prison Farms, Dr. Suzuki expressed support for an alternative model of plant-based agriculture and animal-assisted therapy. In response to the news of the goat dairy plan, Atwood tweeted, “What’s wrong with this proposed prison farm return? Feed prisoners & local communities, not international markets!” Read more.

Media Release: Prison Farm Protest Sparks Debate. August 13, 2018. Prisoners’ Justice Day is a solemn occasion to remember those who have died unnatural deaths in prisons, to struggle against oppression, and to advocate models of healing justice. “We are opposing exploitation and defending healing justice,” says Calvin Neufeld of Evolve Our Prison Farms. “Countless unnatural deaths – human and non-human – will continue to plague Canadian prisons until we evolve toward a more ethical, compassionate, and sustainable future.” Read more.

Media Release: Conflict of Interest Complaint Filed Over Prison Farm Panel. August 1, 2018 – Justice advocacy group Evolve Our Prison Farms has filed a complaint with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion regarding actions taken by Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and the Prison Farm Advisory Panel in determining the future of the federally funded prison farm program. Read more.

Media Release: Prison Farms Under Fire: Protest, Petition, Conflict of Interest. July 29, 2018 – The return of prison farms in Kingston, Ontario, is being met with adamant opposition by justice advocates raising the alarm over the use of this rehabilitation program to produce milk for China. Read more.

Media Release: Prison-Sourced Baby Formula Leaves Sour Taste. June 14, 2018 – In a program described by Minister Ralph Goodale as “emphasizing rehabilitation” through “animal therapy,” milk from the 1500-goat operation will reportedly be sold through a broker to the Feihe infant formula factory. Consumers in China question the logic of adding prisons to the long list of suppliers for baby formula, especially when product distrust is still raw. Read more.

Media Release: Rehabilitation Program Exploits Prisoners and Animals. March 12, 2018 – Putting foreign economic interests ahead of democratic process, the government has revealed that the restoration of the farm program was never about responding to public demand, and it was never about rehabilitation. Read more.

Media Release: A Controversial Future for Prison Farms. March 1, 2018 – While some advocates are applauding the federal budget commitment of $4.3 million to reopen the agricultural operations at Collins Bay and Joyceville Institutions in Kingston, other proponents of prison farms received the news with a mixture of optimism and apprehension. Read more.

Media Release: Save the Herd Petition March Weathers the Storm. December 19, 2017 –  As a snow squall hit Kingston on Friday December 15, about two dozen people marched from Collins Bay Institution to the office of MP Mark Gerretsen to deliver a petition calling for sanctuary for the Pen Herd cows. Launched last year at Kingston VegFest, the “Save the Herd” petition was closed on December 13 with a total of 12,928 signatures. Over 4,000 signatures were received in the final 24 hours, as the petition had begun to go viral. Read more.

Media Release: Sanctuary Not Slaughter for Canada’s Prison Farms. November 9, 2017 – While the Trudeau government hashes out its plan to restore the federal prison farm program, a new concept is taking root in Canadian consciousness: that animal agriculture is the wrong path to rehabilitating prisoners. Read more.

Media Release: A New Voice on Prison Farms Emerges. May 6, 2017 – Evolve Our Prison Farms (EOPF) has submitted to Ralph Goodale, Mark Gerretsen, and other legislators a model for plant-based prison farming that prioritizes ecological stewardship, meaningful rehabilitation and employment programming for prisoners, and community development and food security. Read more.