The man on the other end of the line is professional. He's well-mannered. And he's a convicted criminal. He works at Canada's first prison-based call centre, up and running at the Pittsburgh Institution just outside Kingston, Ont. About 20 inmates conduct market research and opinion surveys, earning $1.25 to $1.75 an hour.
While supporters say the centre provides skills for prisoners who will one day leave the institutions, people in the telemarketing industry argue that jobs are being stolen from workers outside prison.
"I think it's completely atrocious," said Rod Hiebert, president of the Telecommunications Workers Union. "What will restrict them from doing other things when this gets going? Where does it end?"
The centre looks very much like any other office except that a lot more people supervise the workers. Prisoners sit at desks with a computer and phone line. The inmates don't dial the numbers; that's done automatically by a machine. The prisoners see only the area code displayed on their phone, which lets them know what time zone they're dealing with.
"The quality of work has been excellent," said Peter Ruben, chairman and chief executive officer of Call-Us Info Inc., which operates the call centre.
"The reason for that is, in the outside world this type of work may not be that high on the spectrum of jobs. In our environment, it's the most desirable job."
Stephen Lawton, a prisoner at the Pittsburg Institution who immediately signed up to join the call centre, said that "to be part of an office that is close to being a professional office on the street, and to know that you are applying the skills you already have, or are learning new skills, means a lot."
Mr. Lawton works a seven-hour day through the week, with some overtime in the evening and on weekends. Once a telemarketer, he hopes to get back into the business when he leaves prison this summer.
Prisoners are sent to federal institutions when they have to serve two years or more. That's a category that can take in a wide range of offences, but it extends, at the extreme end, to crimes as serious as sexual assault and murder.
"You can appreciate that these guys are enormously motivated. They badly want to succeed in this business," said Michael Elkins, regional director of operations in Ontario for CORCAN, a government agency that helps to operate the centre.
"They've got a very big stake at making this work, so the quality tends to be very high and the motivation is very, very high."
He also said the recidivism rate of offenders who get and hold jobs within three months of their release is low.
But Mr. Hiebert said those working at call centres on the outside are being paid low wages and have to deal with the stresses of the job. They don't need the added pressure of competing with inmates, he said.
"This could mean job loss within the community," he said.
He said he has contacted other unions, and will likely raise the issue with the federal government.
The call centre was opened at the minimum-security prison last fall by Call-Us Info, a division of Calgary-based Alberta Mining Corp., in partnership with CORCAN, which operates at 32 federal prisons across the country.
CORCAN was formed in 1992 to provide work and training for the inmates, primarily at medium- and minimum-security sites. Prisoners make office furniture and textiles for government agencies and sell farm products.
It is normal for federal prisoners in the United States to work as telemarketers and operators; it has not yet become common in Canada.
But with the recent success of the call centre for inspiration, Call-Us Info will be opening up two more at medium-security prisons by the end of May, at William Head Institution in Victoria and Fenbrook prison in Gravenhurst, Ont.
CORCAN gets the minimum wage for each prisoner working at the centre. Mr. Lawton and other inmates see only a portion of that money entering their savings accounts.