Thank you.
Good afternoon, members of the committee. My name is Ron Amey. I am acting production supervisor of Frontenac Institution. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations, the budgets, and new ventures.
I supervise over 10 staff members, who oversee up to 70 offenders involved in a full agriculture and food-processing operation.
I have seen many changes over the years. I started in 1981 as an instructor at Frontenac Institution. At that time it was a work camp, and inmates had to work on the farm. We escorted them to the farm, and they were under constant supervision.
Today the offenders have their own alarm clocks. They get up, get breakfast, and report for work at 5:30 in the morning. They start their duties just as they would at any job. Many offenders attend school during the day and after class return to work, finishing at six o'clock at night and completing a twelve-hour day.
The atmosphere has changed dramatically. We have an employer-employee relationship. Production has increased to the point that we have one of the top herds in the area. Now offenders ask to come to the farm for the benefits offered: fresh air, a sense of accomplishment, and the skills they can learn. Physical work is a stress reliever.
This is not a 1950s operation. Offenders are exposed to modern technology. We have computerized milkers and a TMR mixer. We have just implemented an acidified milk program through the University of Guelph; this is something that was developed in Sweden, and the inmates have come online with that and helped us out quite a bit with it.
They're exposed to many areas of job skills: construction, mechanical maintenance, welding, fabricating, and clerical work. Farmers are a cheap bunch; we use the talents that we have and we construct our own equipment. We work as a team, with interactions among others to perform our duties. A lot of these fellows don't usually work too well together, but once they are in a minimum security setting like this and see what is going on, they interact better. They have more reliance on others, so if one fellow is not there, the other guy knows he has to do the work. They learn responsibility, the care of animals, having someone depend on them, and meeting deadlines.
I'll talk about job ethics, meaning getting to work on time and keeping a job. Many have never even held a job. The human-animal bond, as we heard here earlier, helps to de-institutionalize offenders. We had the story of one offender. He came to us with substance abuse and anger management issues and a violent past. With us, he formed a bond with the cattle, was able to function in a group environment, came to grips with his problems, and eventually worked his way up to one of the top positions on the farm. This inmate is now on parole in downtown Ottawa.
The intention is not and never was to train inmates to be farmers. We strive to release a better citizen into the community. For over a hundred years, we have been supplying food to area prisons, and we have been paying our way through agriculture.
I hope I can answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you.