Mr. Speaker, I am in favour of inmates learning a trade but the learning at William Head Institute in Victoria has been taken a little too far.
Inmates at the facility are encouraged to learn carving, woodworking and even a little welding. However, some inmates have decided to combine these activities and become boat builders. This would not be a bad thing if it were a prairie prison surrounded by only seas of blowing wheat but the institute is surrounded on three sides by water. This makes a boat building enterprise a very practical decision for an inmate with a little ingenuity.
Now I am no Mark Twain and this is not the story of Huck Finn, but believe it or not, it is true. A career criminal went on a crime spree after sailing away from William Head Institute. Even the court judge who sentenced the recaptured inmate to an additional 10 years was curious how an inmate could be allowed to build a raft.
To be fair to the warden, I believe him when he says they do not have a boat building program at the institute. That would be foolhardy and we all know that Corrections Canada would never do anything that is foolhardy.
Maybe the warden should take a walk down to the shop to make sure the inmates are not making speedboats for an even faster getaway.