Madam Speaker, it is an honour to table e-petition 2797 with signatures from across Canada.
The petitioners note that Correctional Service of Canada is establishing for-profit prison farms involving beef, dairy and intensive animal agriculture and selling products to the private sector and possible export markets. They note that prisoners will be paid under $1 an hour and that associating underpaid prison labour with the private sector is a human rights violation under the International Labour Organization's standards.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to cancel this prison agribusiness, prevent for-profit use of prison labour for the private sector and transition federally funded prison farms to a plant-based non-profit model, feeding food banks and food insecure communities, as proposed by Evolve Our Prison Farms.