--in Prince Albert and various ones like that. Work was done within the correctional institute itself. Then they sold off the meat or whatever it was. Actually, it competed, you might say, with others in that very same market, but that's not the issue so much.
For people here in Toronto, it may be good for them to understand that in western Canada, back in my grandfather's day, you made do with a quarter of land. Now you have sections and sections, so they are using big equipment. As for most of these individuals, I think few, if any, have gone back to work on farms. They worked there in corrections. Maybe that was good. We could say that as a work ethic kind of thing it's good in itself, but if the point of the program is actually to get people out working at those jobs thereafter, that wasn't working.
That wasn't happening throughout my riding and the ridings in and about Saskatchewan and in the Saskatoon area and so on. That was not occurring. I think the point is to try to get those people in jobs with marketable skills for after they are outside prison. That was the point of the reduction of that program, as I understand it, in western Canada, where the agriculture actually is.
Before I go to my questions, I do want to make some quick comments as well, though, with respect to literacy. I guess getting into a little bit of partisan comment from time to time is almost unavoidable here, and Mr. Ouellet, who is not here at present, did get into that to some degree. There were cuts to literacy lobbyists, if you will, and I think that's an important thing. It may not be acknowledged by people here or elsewhere, especially if they're part of that lobby crew, but there has been no reduction.
In fact, the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills invested $45 million this year for developing literacy and essential skills. They are doing both, and in so doing, yes, individuals whose purpose was basically lobbying governments, either provincial or federal, didn't get as much money. But what we see as the important thing is getting literacy happening on the ground. There have been no reductions. In fact, there are significant dollars going into that, with $500 million per year in new labour market agreements, with a significant part of that for literacy, and with an additional $150 million this year for language training for new Canadians, and then a task force to advise on a cohesive national strategy on financial literacy as well, which is important for people in handling their funds and budgets and so on.
I thought I should remark on that, because there is this great divide. People either think we should give dollars to lobby groups, which then lobby the government for things, or they are of the other view. I happen to be of the view, and the Conservative government is of the view, that you should actually get the dollars into the hands of people who teach literacy and do the literacy training. On that front, I'm not finding that there has been any diminishment of effort, but I would be interested to hear if there are necessary comments on that.
I have a question, Daniel. I thought your comments were rather interesting. You're a very articulate person and I appreciate your remarks here as someone who has experienced it and knows it on a first-hand basis. You made the comment that “at a point I determined I wasn't going to be a homeless man anymore”. I'm intrigued by that remark. How much of a factor do you think this determination is, and how would that reference other people? Give me your life story here. What exactly do you mean by that?