Members of the Union of Solicitor General Employees and the Public Service Alliance of Canada mobilized early on the morning of June 17th in an attempt to prevent Correctional Services Canada (CSC) from removing cattle from the farm at Westmorland Institution in Dorchester, NB.
Union members were disappointed to find out that the cattle had already been removed from the prison farm when they got to the demonstration. CSC was supposed to remove the cattle from the farm that day to take them to an auction sale in Truro, Nova Scotia. Union members feel the cattle were removed earlier than planned when CSC found out about the protest.
The action was part of the “Save Our Prison Farms” campaign. According to the campaign, “[it] is a lightening rod for addressing the Conservative Party’s generally short-sighted policies on farming, food and justice. The decision to shut down this successful rehabilitation program symbolizes our government’s lack of understanding of what actually makes the public safe, and their failure to recognize the value of a restorative approach to justice and a sustainable, local approach to the future of farming and food.”