Why Brian Abrams Will Never Be a Member of Parliament

Watching yesterday as a tractor was mulching the fields at the Frontenac prison farm, I had to look away. It was like witnessing a murder, but being powerless to stop it.

This afternoon I went to a wedding shower and on our way we saw the protesters. People of all ages who are genuinely concerned with one of the most inhumane acts that this government has ever made.

Coming back it was pouring rain and traffic was slowed as a line up of cattle trucks were attempting to enter the prison property.

These brave men, women and children were sitting down in civil disobedience, in the pouring rain, blocking the entrance, while the police were positioning themselves.

In February 2009, the Correctional Service of Canada said it would close Canada's six prison farms operated across the country 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.

To show how out of touch this government is, they claim that they want to "provide more relevant employment skills" to rehabilitate prisoners in contemporary trades. So far the only thing they are offering is janitorial services.

Farming is about more than tending to animals and planting crops. The inmates who work the farms learn how to repair machinery, keep books, and be responsible for living things. It's not a free ride. They are up at dawn as with any farmer.

Inmates are already receiving grief counselling. Grief counselling?

The Kingston Neoconservative candidate is Brain Abrams, and throughout the struggle to keep the farms open he has not showed his face once. Not once.

We will be making this an election issue, because it shows Kingstonians what kind of a representative he would be. He didn't show up because he isn't allowed to show up. As an MP for Kingston he will not be allowed to challenge anything his government does.

And when he starts campaigning I will make sure that everyone knows that he would not be going to Ottawa to represent us or anything that matters to our community.

So we must make sure that he NEVER goes to Ottawa.