Should Canada Reinstate Capital Punishment

1390 Words6 Pages
Canada has had a long history with capital punishment dating back all the way to 1749. It was in effect for a long two hundred twenty seven years after being abolished in 1976. Throughout 2 centuries there were many reformations to the death penalty. In Canada there was only one method used for putting someone to death and this was hanging. Today there are many people that believe Canada should bring back the death penalty for some of the more serious crimes committed such as rapes, murders, and terrorism. It is my belief that capital punishment should be reinstated in Canada so that justice is brought to those people who commit horrific crimes, therefore giving them no chance to be released into society. The history of capital punishment made its first appearance in Canada putting Peter Cartcel to death in 1749 after stabbing three men causing the death of Abraham Goodsides and injuring two others. This is presumably the earliest recorded use of capital punishment as it is hard to be exact due to the lack in systematically keeping records until 1867. In the early years a person could receive the death penalty by committing such crimes as treason, theft, burglary, rape pedophilia, homosexuality, and bestiality. This list was lengthened over the years to decrease the crime rate in our country. After confederation Canada refined these laws and made only three crimes punishable to death, murder, rape, and treason. Since this time, the only case that ended in the death penalty for something other than murder was the execution of metis leader Louis riel for high treason. Then in 1868 the regulations were changed so that instead of the offenders being put to death in a public setting, they made it so that the executions had to be done inside prison walls. A long eighty-two years later there was a bill put forward to government by Mr. W. Ross Thatcher a member of
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