"I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced that they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another." Ellen Goodman
There are so many important issues facing us today, that at times it all seems so overwhelming. How can we possibly fix everything? Climate change, poverty, homelessness, intolerance, war .... where do we start?
Fortunately, we have many Canadian heroes who don't focus on the enormity of the tasks ahead, but on some small measure where they can exact change.
But the difference that they are making could very well be the most important issue of all. Our right to protest. Because when we allow ourselves to be silenced, we have no hope of changing anything.
But apparently brutality was not enough for our government. They wanted to make sure that none of their decisions would ever be questioned again, so they presented a 'diversion arrangement', whereby 'offenders' could exchange community service for a record.
This might sound like a fair exchange, except that part of that condition meant they had to admit that what they did was wrong. How can it be wrong to protest a decision that was completely unfair and made without debate?
I certainly don't fault those who agreed to this deal, because having a criminal record can follow you throughout your life, but several people refused, including Jeff Peters and Andrew McCann.
They are taking a stand, because this is no longer just about the prison farms, but our basic civil rights, that are being threatened.
“When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.” Stephen Harper, Canadian Press, April 18, 2005
Lofty words from a man who now goes to enormous lengths to cancel any kind of dissent in this country.
Which brings us to Alex Hundert, one of many protesters at the G-20, who risked his own freedom to guarantee ours. You can read his story here.
Hundert was placed under a gag order that FORBID him from taking part in public political discussions. After appearing on a university panel he was rearrested. In Canada.
While Canada has some of the best police officers in the world, we are still troubled with this blatant oppression by the authorities and bail conditions imposed. We totally agree with Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young’s comment of “astonishing” — and may we add “appalling.” This is not the Canada we grew up in. We are losing civil freedoms in a democratic country. These recent totalitarian actions are something we thought only happened in Eastern bloc countries.
There is little doubt that Canada’s image has been eroded by incidents such as this. The recent rejection of Canada by the UN Security Council is a telling tale of just where we stand in the eyes of the world. It is time to stand up and defend the principles of fairness and justice of which Canada had long represented.
This is not the Canada I grew up in either.
We are increasingly becoming an Eastern Bloc country where witch hunts are the norm and peaceful protesters arrested at gunpoint.
We can stay silent and allow this government to continue it's human rights abuses, or we can stand up to this by demanding answers.
Like where is the proof that the prison farms are too expensive?
Why were the police at the G-20 told to leave vandals alone and instead abuse those protesting this government's inaction on important social problems?
And why so many police in the first place?
A hero doesn't have to try to change the whole world, but if we have enough people willing to speak out and stand up for something they believe in, who knows? We just might.
A young offender appeared in a Kingston courtroom on Monday to answer to charges of public mischief. Unfazed by the entire process, she showed no remorse. While waiting to appear she sat on the floor and sketched, then brazenly stood in line for legal aid. An all too common story of an underage criminal, taking comfort in the fact that they would be given a "slap on the wrist" and not have to pay for their actions. In fact throughout her incarceration, she sang. The nerve.
And as her story was told in our local paper, they were not allowed to publish her name because of her age, so referred to her simply as "Jane Doe". I don't like that name because it is more often used to describe an unidentified female corpse. I'm going to call her, "our young heroine".
Because her crime of public mischief was standing against the injustice of the prison farm closures. "I love nature and shutting down the prison farms is bad for the community," the 14 year old said. "It's bad for the planet." She said she knew she risked arrest when she decided to join the blockade.
She was the youngest person among 24 people hauled away by police because they blocked a road into Frontenac Institution on Aug. 8 and 9, in a failed bid to stop cattle trucks from removing the prison farm's dairy herd from the property. "I thought we were just sitting on prison property ... " (1)
As she was entering the courtroom, she was presented with a gift, sent from a woman who knows a lot about advocacy and civil disobedience, Margaret Atwood. It was a signed copy of her critically acclaimed book The Handmaid's Tale: "Dear unknown arrested girl, congratulations on your courage. It could have been worse, read on" in reference to the oppressive society imagined in her book, in which women are subjugated and controlled.
Margaret Atwood had passed the torch that our young heroine had already picked up.
Another Torch Bearer
Olga Hudson was born in Manitoba. As a young girl she often marched in protest with her mother. Marched against unfair labour practices, and the abuse of veterans. And marched for women's rights. In fact Manitoba was the first province in Canada to grant women the right to vote.
Olga's mother had passed the torch of social conscience onto her daughter, and as a result she said that she has always been active in social causes. But in early August of this year she was arrested for the first time. Olga is 87 years old.
She wasn't frightened at the blockade, though police treated her roughly. She was hauled to a paddy wagon, shackled at the legs and handcuffed with plastic zip-tie style restraints. "They hurt because they were narrow strips of plastic," she said. She was put into a paddy wagon and into a steel compartment. "Every time they turned a corner, I was terrified I would knock myself out on the metal," she said.
At the police station, she said a senior officer was clearly upset with officers who felt it was necessary to shackle her. She spent more than four hours alone in a holding cell before she was released. (2)
But she had followed news reports about the save-the-prison-farms movement and knew that this was where she needed to be. Her family must be so proud, as she is passing the torch of justice on to them.
And Still More Torch Bearers
Nik Gravonic had worked as a federal parole officer for almost thirty years, and had seen firsthand the value of the prison farm program. So he joined the protests that aimed to prevent the removal of the farm animals.
Nik Gravonic said he passed out during the paddy wagon ride to the police station from fumes that entered his compartment. "I was getting the fumes from the motor," said Gravonic, 63, ... He was taken to the hospital and then was returned to the police holding cells.
Gravonic said it was an unsettling experience to be arrested. "Probably the most eerie sensation I've had in my life was when the officer put the handcuffs on me because he was in control and I wasn't in control anymore," he said. Gravonic said he was treated harshly. "(The officer) said if I didn't keep my mouth shut, I would be charged with resisting arrest and I would also be charged with assault," he recalled. "So (he asked) did I want three charges or one charge, so I kept my mouth shut." (2)
Don Misener is a retired United Church minister, who had served as a prison chaplain for 16 years. He too saw the value of the prison farms: "They're incredibly important in terms of helping inmates decompress from years of incarceration and develop the kind of compassion and self-discipline that's crucial for their being able to function effectively in society."
Misener had never been arrested before. "I just can't conscience just seeing it wiped away," he said. "I think it's time to stand up and do what we can for the sake of our society and our grandchildren." (2)
These two men have passed a torch of compassion and insight.
The Prison Farm Closures are a Human Rights Issue
Philosopher Richard McKay Rorty once said that human progress was "an increase in our ability to see more and more differences among people as morally irrelevant." That notion is fundamental when speaking of human rights. Because human rights have little to do with being politically correct and everything to do with treating humans as humans.
In If This Is a Man, Primo Levi describes being interviewed by Dr. Pannwitz, chief of the chemical department at Auschwitz.' Securing a place in the department was a matter of life or death: if Levi could convince Pannwitz that he was a competent chemist, he might be spared the gas chamber. As Levi stood on one side of the doctor's desk, in his concentration camp uniform, Dr. Pannwitz stared up at him.
Levi later remembered: "That look was not one between two men; and if I had known how completely to explain the nature of that look, which came as if across the glass window of an aquarium between two beings who live in different worlds, I would also have explained the essence of the great insanity of the third German [reich]."
Here was a scientist, trained in the traditions of European rational inquiry, turning a meeting between two human beings into an encounter between different species. (3)
I'm not trying to compare the prison farm closings to the Holocaust, but am only drawing a parallel to one human being looking at another human being as from a different "species". This thought process allowed slave owners to look on their human holdings as property, not men, women and children. And in many ways a penal system allows the same distinctions.
I read a comment the other day, and I wish I could find the source again. But it was from someone who I believe had worked as a guard at the Frontenac Institute. He spoke of the relationship between the "staff" and the "inmates" and how it had been broken down.
The guards did not wear uniforms and had the same dirt under their fingernails as their charges. They worked as equals getting an important job done. And as the inmates toiled daily alongside guards, they found common ground and their differences became "morally irrelevant".
The Harper government has stated that these inmates don't learn marketable skills. What can be more marketable or beneficial than that? Tasks can be taught, but what the prison farms gave them, can only be learned through dealing on a day to day basis, with people who pass on their values.
Ottawa has refused to release any reports or documents to substantiate the claim [that they are losing 4 million dollars annually]. Correctional Service Canada refused to release any documents in response to an Access to Information request filed last year by the Whig-Standard seeking the latest internal audits of the prison farms. (2)
Ghandi said that "civil disobedience is the assertion of a right which law should give but which it denies..." All the people I mentioned above understood that. And they were not alone. A great many people stood in protest against this tyrannical decision.
People from all walks of life: farmers, teachers, ministers, nuns, lawyers, mothers, fathers, grandparents and children. Singers, authors, professors, you name it, they were there. And two people who led the charge, Dianne Dowling and Jeff Peters, are true heroes and true humanitarians. They are also both farmers, who took time out of their busy schedules to fight for Justice, and they have passed the torch of determination.
Stephen Harper often speaks of "ordinary people". "Ordinary people don't like the arts". "Ordinary people want more prisons" ....
But he would never understand the people involved in this movement, because they are not "ordinary".
I told the story of Stormy and Hope yesterday, but I also want to let you know of the wonderful human involvement in the 'Save the Prison Farms' campaign.
A woman by the name of Dianne Dowling has been working herself to exhaustion and because of her efforts, and those of hundreds of volunteers and concerned citizens, there is still a chance to save this important piece of our heritage.
Sadly, the cattle at Frontenac Institute were taken away and sold, but there are still several who are with calf that can be saved.
And no one is giving up the fight. A Co-op has been formed and you can now own a share of history. If every Canadian put themselves behind this, we just might be able to reverse one of the worst government decisions ever made.
There will be a pot luck in Kingston, Ontario tomorrow (August 19) but if you are unable to attend, you can still help.
Or call Jeff Peters at 613-353-2403 to buy a share.
1. proposal for creating the Pen Farm Herd Co-op -- a chance to own a share of the herd
We are actively exploring the creation of a non-profit co-operative, to own a part of the Pen Farm herd. The proposal is described below and in the attachment.
If you would like to buy one or more shares, please bring a cheque for $300/share to the picnic on Thursday. If you are not attending the picnic and are interested in buying a share, contact Jeff or Dianne at the phone numbers listed in the proposal.
The remainder of the herd is being auctioned Monday, Aug. 23, so we need to know how many committed shares we have. Pen Farm Herd Co-op ' "Wanna Be a Farmer?” - Help Save the Herd !
Goal: To preserve a core of the Frontenac Institution Pen Farm dairy herd, with the intention of returning the cows to the prison farm when the Frontenac prison farm is restored. We believe that at some point we’ll sell the cows back to the new government for a return on your investment.
Background: At the sale on August 10, Kingston area residents purchased four milking cows and two young cattle. As well, there are 15-20 milking cows and several calves still at the prison farm because the cows were too close to their calving dates to be trucked. Correctional Service of Canada plans to sell these cattle at noon on August 23 at Selby Livestock facility, near Napanee.
1) Working with OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group, based at Queen’s University), we are investigating establishing a non-profit co-operative to oversee the ownership and care of 15-20 cows and 5-10 calves purchased from the Pen Farm dispersal.
OPIRG Kingston is part of a network of OPIRG groups and has the capacity to oversee the finances of this project. We will recruit an interim group of directors to set up the co-op and draft its bylaws, in consultation with community members. The shareholders will elect a board of directors and vote on the bylaws.
A share in the co-op will cost $300.00. We estimate that we will need to sell 60-70 shares ($18,000 to $21,000) for the Co-op to purchase the number of cows and calves indicated in step 1. About four shares will cover the purchase cost of one cow, but shareholders will not be seen as owning a particular cow, but rather having a share in the herd. We will develop an agreement to present to local dairy farmers. These people would care for the cattle until the prison farm is restored.
The Co-op will purchase cows and calves at the sale and loan them to local farmers who commit to properly caring for our cows. The farmers will be able to ship the milk from the Co-op cows through their quota, thus receiving payment for caring for the cattle. Any calves born to the cows will belong to the Co-op.
Listen to all the horns honking. Listen to the voices. For those poor cattle, Frontenac Institute was their only home. I live just a few blocks from that farm and it has always been a part of our community. I have always felt safe. The planned super prison for the land will endanger this community. This is not only an assault on farmers, but it is an assault on all of us. Please help.
Peter Van Loan, minister of Crime and Punishment, was ready to head out, but had just one more task to perform before leaving. He crossed the room toward an array of video screens, and with remote in hand, changed the scenes from "Save the Prison Farms" activists, to animals in distress. This was his favourite part of the day, where he could view the effects of his arbitrary decisions.
After several engrossed minutes, he shut off the screens, smiled and left the room, clearly enjoying the fruits of his labour.
Meanwhile, in Kingston Ontario, the cattle at Frontenac Institute were huddled together in the barn. Rumours abounded that they may soon be leaving their familiar dwellings. And though most refused to believe it, there was no mistaking the change in the men who came to look after them everyday. Word was that many were now receiving grief counselling.
"Grief over what" asked a demure little Heifer.
"Over us, stupid. I heard them talking. We are to be sold."
"How can we be sold? This is our home. I was born here and so were my parents, and their parents before them."
"Doesn't matter. I heard it had something to do with the country's loss of dem ... dem ...democy ...."
One of the larger Holsteins, who had already settled into it's bed of straw, got up and approached the group. "Democracy, my dear. I'm not sure what it is but it has something to do with a fair and just society. That's what they said. A man named Harper suspended democracy, and no democracy means no justice, and no justice means that we can now be sold to the highest bidder."
The cattle slumped and all settled into their beds, but there would be little sleeping that night. And in the darkness, came the sound of a lone bovine voice, singing barely above a whisper, but the words were heard by all:
Beasts of Kingston, beasts of Frontenac, Beasts of this great land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tidings Of the golden future time.
Soon or late the day is coming, Tyrant Harper shall be o'erthrown, And the fruitful fields of Frontenac, Shall be trod by us again.
But unfortunately, the uproar awoke Van Loan and Harper, whose ears are too big, and hearts too small. They seized their guns and were ready to react, until Stockwell Day brought them to their senses. "Wait men. Don't be hasty. We'll let them suffer a little more. You don't want to end the fun too soon."
And across the fields and highways, the melody reached another pair of ears. Stormythe donkey knew just what he had to do. But for now he must get his rest.
CHAPTER TWO
Stormy awoke to the sound of loud voices. His friend Jeff Peters was on the phone: "We'll fight this. They are not going to get away with this. It is not just about those prison farms, but this is an assault on Canadian farmers and the entire justice system."
He knew Jeff would come through. And all the others in the room were just as determined. Stormy had allies. All that was left was to draw up a battle plan.
Meanwhile at Frontenac Institute, the cattle were once again huddling in groups, pondering their future. They had noticed that the men were especially kind that morning. An extra little tickle behind the ear. One more pat on the rump. They liked it but couldn't help feeling a sense of dread.
"They know something, but are not telling us what it is."
"I told you guys. We are being sold. I hear things."
"Stop scaring the young ones. We've heard your rumours before. Remember when you had us convinced that they were experimenting with five legged calves. Do you see any five legged calves around here?" Walking away, the heifer just shook her head. "They'll see. I'm right. I know I'm right."
In Ottawa, things were heating up. The opposition parties demanded answers. Where was the proof that the farms were no longer sustainable? What alternative rehabilitation programs did the Reformers have in mind?
"Shhhhhh." They were told. "We answer to no one."
"But all experts agree that ..."
"There's that word experts again ... experts'. And 'facts'. Do you think we are concerned with 'facts' or what 'university types' have to say? Our base wants the farms gone, so they will be gone. End of"
Mark Holland reminded the Reformers that Canadians from all walks of life opposed their decision, and they deserved answers. But it was no use. As Wayne Easter reminded us, the buffoons had dreamt of super prisons and they were going to build super prisons, even if Canada did not have enough criminals to fill them. Said he:
The former Minister of Public Safety, Peter Van Loan, was the first to raise the spectre of the 'super prison' model. This strategy was based on a report, which was prepared for the Conservatives and which called for the construction of regional complexes across the country. These complexes would incorporate four or five penitentiaries within one perimeter, housing upwards of 2,000 inmates -- in short, the San Quentin State Prison model. No prison in Canada currently houses more than 550 inmates. The U.S. tough on crime agenda has increased their prison population to a point where it has incarcerated more people than any other country in the world. Few would claim that this has created a 'safer' environment.
What the government requires is the land base upon which to construct these facilities. San Quentin sits on 432 acres of land. Interestingly, the Frontenac farm in Kingston is comprised of 772 acres of class 2 and 3 soils -- prime agricultural land. In 2007, Correctional Services Canada was requested to develop a cost estimate for a new correctional facility that could incorporate the correctional activities of several existing facilities located in the Kingston area into one footprint. The plan for super prisons has been underway for some time.
But even the Conservatives knew they needed some kind of justification for closing the farms to acquire the land to build super prisons, so they decided to claim that the work on the prison farms -- agricultural work -- was worthless.
How could agricultural work be worthless, farmers wondered? I guess it was as logical as the Reformers' notion that a university education was worthless. Stockwell Day only got as far as high school, and he was doing alright, even if he was in fact, doing everything wrong.
And from the caucus room could be heard the familiar song:
All Hail Harper, we'll rub their noses, In our bad decisions all, Bit by bit, we'll destroy this country, Total destruction, before we fall.
Riches will be ours for taking, Farmers we don't like a bit, Lock them up and fill those prisons, Cause really we don't give a sh..... darn?
CHAPTER FOUR
Stormy was feeling very optimistic. All around him were people engaged in activity. Sawing and painting "Save the Prison Farms" wooden cut-outs. Organizing rallies in Ottawa. Some were on the phone, others at their computers.
This kind of solidarity could move mountains. They would save his friends at the prison farms, human and animal alike. He just knew it. And he was going to help.
The humans spoke of all people from all political stripes joining in, except of course the Reformers. Hugh Segal their senator from Kingston got a case of "hoof in mouth" disease, and their candidate Brian Abrams sent one email suggesting that he supported the cause. Then Harper stuck a gag in his mouth, strapped a plough to his butt and demanded that he mulch the fields to remove any evidence that it was once fertile farmland.
But they had musicians, teachers, nuns, professors, farmers, seniors, youth ... everyone with a stake in the cause. In fact who didn't have a stake? This was about food and it was about justice and it was about doing what was right.
Even Margaret Atwood, a national treasure was lending her support. How could they lose?
But poor Stormy didn't understand evil. He had spent his life with people who cared about all those things. Maybe if he spent a day with the Reformers, he might understand about inhumanity.
Bright once shone the fields of Frontenac, A star in our community, Now foul odour rides the breezes As we lose our democracy.
CHAPTER FIVE
The cattle at Frontenac were up earlier then usual. The sky was cloudy and threatening rain. But that's not what had them feeling uneasy. There was something else in the air that day. They could feel it.
A rumbling outside the gates as trucks idled. Loud voices of people not letting them pass. And the inhumane sound of humans being thrown to the pavement by men and women in uniform.
But they were not the uniforms they saw everyday. These were different. These were the uniforms of a death squad. A death squad that would put the final bullet into the heart of Canada.
"I have some bad news guys. Stormy's been arrested," said the agitated heifer.
"Stop that. More rumours. You're frightening us."
"No, I'm not lying. I saw him being led to the Big House. And Jeff was with him. This is not good."
And they all sang now. A melancholy melody.
For all the days that we have laboured, Building up this beautiful farm; And for all the men who've found salvation, This will do irreparable harm.
CHAPTER SIX
And indeed the worst had happened. The cattle were led away in chains and sold off, while their supporters were led away in handcuffs.
But the battle is not over, and there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Or should I say a glimmering Hope.
Those involved in this operation for a year and a half were able to purchase some of the cattle back. Only six of three hundred, but it's a start.
And one little calf, aptly named Hope will now symbolize that little light glowing in the darkness.
Meela Melnik-Proud now has Hope. The resident of Kingsmere subdivision travelled to the cattle auction in Waterloo on Tuesday, eager to buy one of the milking cows that had been removed from Frontenac Institution. Instead, she found herself the owner of a four-month-old calf, which she aptly named Hope.
"She's just perfect," said Mel-nick-Proud, who took part in the recent protests against closing local prison farms. "The whole point is that she represents hope, maybe rebirth, that we'll come back to the table with dialogue and diplomacy, not dozens of armed police officers."
Melnik-Proud said her university-aged daughters will help take care of the newest member of the family. "I'm not a farmer or anything," she said. "I just thought -- I was watching the cows being removed, and talking to farmers and the anguish of the whole ordeal -- I thought, 'Well, I'm going to go buy a cow.' "
And where there is a beautiful little calf and a determined little donkey, there will always be HOPE!
So to all former beasts of Frontenac, And all of this great land and clime, Harper's days are clearly numbered Then we'll have a golden future time.
