Choosing Collaboration Over Division

Michelle Foxton | Jun 19, 2025

Choosing Collaboration Over Division
In a recent opinion piece, Calvin Neufeld criticized my position on local agricultural initiatives, particularly the Joyceville prison farm. I feel it’s important to set the record straight and focus on the issues that matter.
Mr. Neufeld did not run in the 2025 election, did not raise these concerns at any of the 2025 all-candidates debates, and made no attempt to contact me during my campaign. Mr. Neufeld did speak with me in 2021 about his concerns regarding the prison farm and abattoir, which I took seriously. 
I visited the Joyceville farm on multiple occasions, most recently on February 3, 2025. I didn’t see the caricature Mr. Neufeld now presents, but rather a thoughtful, experimental operation advancing animal husbandry, growing practices, and vocational training, with an eye to sustainability, better food systems, and inmate rehabilitation. 
This initiative should not be used as a partisan wedge. If we are serious about building better communities, we need to do more than critique from the sidelines. We need to show up, listen, investigate, and collaborate, especially when our farmers, our institutions, and our environment are all under pressure. So, let’s focus on the issues that matter to our riding.
Supporting Abattoir Access for Local Farmers
Our agricultural producers have made it clear: the lack of regional abattoir capacity is hurting local food systems. While some voices have pushed for private-sector solutions, the reality is that public-private partnerships can help fill a critical gap.
In doing so we need to: reduce red tape for small abattoirs and make it feasible for small producers to start or revive local facilities; investigate the feasibility of local mobile abattoirs; support local entrepreneurs through federal and provincial grants; pilot regional co-ops and community-run meat processing services; and use federal lands and programs such as the Joyceville facility to build local capacity.  
This isn’t just about food processing, it’s about regional economic development, building resilience, and ensuring our farmers can bring their goods to market efficiently, ethically, and profitably.
Innovation in Farming Practices
The Joyceville prison farm is an innovative, hands-on, evidence-based initiative. I toured it and spoke to the people involved, including several inmates. This program, in partnership with McGill University, uses an experimental milk quota to develop techniques that benefit our agricultural industry. It uses a wide range of testing of soils and crops for increased yield and better soil management. In addition, it promotes high-welfare livestock practices grounded in research.  
While doing this, it offers participating inmates hands-on, skill-based learning, working with plants, animals, machinery and construction. They can receive certification upon completion of programs, adding legitimacy to their skillset post-release.  Certificates mark readiness for agricultural or trade jobs in the community.
Far from being controversial, it is widely supported and becoming self-sustainable, with a goal to reinvest any profit in additional vocational training. It aims to model how correctional institutions can serve the public good, promote environmental sustainability, and add real value to local agricultural communities.
Choosing Local: A Carbon-Conscious Approach 
If Mr. Neufeld is serious about environmental sustainability, I invite him to reconsider where real leadership lies.  Every shipment of food transported hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres contributes to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions - a contradiction to climate-conscious policy. Scott Reid as Chair of Giant Tiger, like many other grocery chains, could influence our food supply away from large processing centres toward local producers. Lanark-Frontenac needs an MP who supports this and can advocate for: local food systems; low-carbon supply chains; listening to farmers and making decisions based on science and sustainability.
Parliament should be a place where representatives are not conflicted, but work together to find practical, forward-thinking solutions that benefit the people they serve. Our local community would be better served by leadership that collaborates to strengthen local food systems, support sustainable agriculture, and invest in skills training that addresses labour shortages in the agri-food sector. With the right representation, we can turn innovative ideas into meaningful action for Lanark–Frontenac.
Setting the Record Straight
It’s unfortunate that Mr. Neufeld has chosen to misrepresent my views and mislead the public about where I stand.
My views are grounded in evidence, practical problem-solving, and collaboration. I’ve spent time listening to dairy farmers, livestock producers, beekeepers, gardeners, agronomists, and land stewards across the riding. I’ve taken their concerns seriously and shared them with policymakers whenever possible.
I’ve spoken with both staff and inmates at the Joyceville prison farm. Each of them believed in the value of the work being done there. While the farm now falls outside our riding, the impact of the program continues to benefit our community supporting agricultural innovation and future employment pathways.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t a political wedge issue, it’s a real example of how institutions can support both economic and social progress, reminding us that solutions exist, right here in our own backyard.
In Closing
Leadership is about showing up, listening to constituents and working together to make life better, even when it's complicated. This riding is facing real challenges including rural affordability, food security, health care access and the need to transition to sustainable local economies. That’s where our energy must go, not into personal attacks, but into collaborative, forward-thinking action. That’s what I’ve done. That’s what I’ll continue to do.
When we focus on our shared values, not division, and when we listen, show up, and work together, we can make life better for everyone. That’s not Green, Blue, Orange or Red, that’s finding the centre ground and moving forward!
Michelle Foxton
2025 Federal Liberal Candidate