Robert Remington
National Post
Thursday, November 21, 2002
CALGARY - The National Post's exclusive prison diary by a jailed farmer has been scuttled by Alberta policies preventing inmates from talking to the media.
After two reports from inside Lethbridge Correctional Centre, farmer Jim Chatenay is unable to communicate with the Post after our name was scrubbed from his telephone list.
"We have a long-standing policy that we do not facilitate media interviews with offenders who are in jail," said Jean Olynyk, who speaks for the Alberta Solicitor-General's Department.
The jailed farmers are in a provincially run institution. The Correctional Service of Canada's policy for federal institutions allows media and inmates to do interviews, except in rare cases. "It is our advice that we have no legal right to prevent it," said Dennis Finlay, a Corrections Canada spokesman.
To make calls, provincial inmates must submit a list of names with birthdates and addresses to prison staff. Serving prisoners may communicate with immediate family, their lawyers and legal-aid professionals, but not reporters.
Ms. Olynyk was unsure of the reason for the media communication ban, saying it dates back at least 20 years.
Mr. Chatenay, who will be released on Saturday, had provided Post readers with two accounts of his life behind bars. He and 12 other Alberta farmers turned themselves in to authorities on Oct. 31 after refusing to pay Canada Customs fines for taking grain across the U.S. border to protest the Canadian Wheat Board's sales and marketing monopoly over Western grain producers.
Mr. Chatenay, who is a farmer-elected Wheat Board director, donated a sack of grain to a Montana 4-H Club during the April, 1996, protest at the border crossing between Coutts, Alta., and Sweetgrass, Mont.
Ten of the farmers secured early release after paying fines funded in part by donations to a Free the Farmers defence fund. Mr. Chatenay and three others -- John Turcato, Bill Moore and Ron Duffy -- remain behind bars, determined to serve their full sentences. They received reduced time for community service, such as cleaning potatoes for the prison mess hall and raking leaves.
In his last report, Mr. Chatenay said the remaining farmers are refusing to pay fines on principle but do not begrudge those who left jail early, many of whom still had crops in the field and families to support.
"Our whole campaign has been about choice and they are not any less committed because they left early," Mr. Chatenay said.
Last spring, the federal standing committee on agriculture sided with the anti-monopoly forces and urged an end to the Wheat Board's "single desk" policy on a trial basis. Ralph Goodale, the Minister responsible for the Wheat Board, responded by saying it is a decision for farmers to make.
Not all farmers agree with the position taken by the jailed farmers. Several farmers have called Alberta radio talk shows complaining that the anti-monopoly farmers are playing into the hands of Americans who want the Wheat Board dismantled.
Elections are underway for five of the board's 10 elected positions, with anti-monopoly farmer representatives running in all districts. The 15-member board is rounded out by five directors, including the president, who are appointed by the federal government.
Results of the elections will be announced on Dec. 15.
bremington@nationalpost.com
© Copyright 2002 National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=4D45B427-C31A-4661-A67C-B35538A48B75
National Post
Thursday, November 21, 2002
CALGARY - The National Post's exclusive prison diary by a jailed farmer has been scuttled by Alberta policies preventing inmates from talking to the media.
After two reports from inside Lethbridge Correctional Centre, farmer Jim Chatenay is unable to communicate with the Post after our name was scrubbed from his telephone list.
"We have a long-standing policy that we do not facilitate media interviews with offenders who are in jail," said Jean Olynyk, who speaks for the Alberta Solicitor-General's Department.
The jailed farmers are in a provincially run institution. The Correctional Service of Canada's policy for federal institutions allows media and inmates to do interviews, except in rare cases. "It is our advice that we have no legal right to prevent it," said Dennis Finlay, a Corrections Canada spokesman.
To make calls, provincial inmates must submit a list of names with birthdates and addresses to prison staff. Serving prisoners may communicate with immediate family, their lawyers and legal-aid professionals, but not reporters.
Ms. Olynyk was unsure of the reason for the media communication ban, saying it dates back at least 20 years.
Mr. Chatenay, who will be released on Saturday, had provided Post readers with two accounts of his life behind bars. He and 12 other Alberta farmers turned themselves in to authorities on Oct. 31 after refusing to pay Canada Customs fines for taking grain across the U.S. border to protest the Canadian Wheat Board's sales and marketing monopoly over Western grain producers.
Mr. Chatenay, who is a farmer-elected Wheat Board director, donated a sack of grain to a Montana 4-H Club during the April, 1996, protest at the border crossing between Coutts, Alta., and Sweetgrass, Mont.
Ten of the farmers secured early release after paying fines funded in part by donations to a Free the Farmers defence fund. Mr. Chatenay and three others -- John Turcato, Bill Moore and Ron Duffy -- remain behind bars, determined to serve their full sentences. They received reduced time for community service, such as cleaning potatoes for the prison mess hall and raking leaves.
In his last report, Mr. Chatenay said the remaining farmers are refusing to pay fines on principle but do not begrudge those who left jail early, many of whom still had crops in the field and families to support.
"Our whole campaign has been about choice and they are not any less committed because they left early," Mr. Chatenay said.
Last spring, the federal standing committee on agriculture sided with the anti-monopoly forces and urged an end to the Wheat Board's "single desk" policy on a trial basis. Ralph Goodale, the Minister responsible for the Wheat Board, responded by saying it is a decision for farmers to make.
Not all farmers agree with the position taken by the jailed farmers. Several farmers have called Alberta radio talk shows complaining that the anti-monopoly farmers are playing into the hands of Americans who want the Wheat Board dismantled.
Elections are underway for five of the board's 10 elected positions, with anti-monopoly farmer representatives running in all districts. The 15-member board is rounded out by five directors, including the president, who are appointed by the federal government.
Results of the elections will be announced on Dec. 15.
bremington@nationalpost.com
© Copyright 2002 National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=4D45B427-C31A-4661-A67C-B35538A48B75