Capital Punishment
The History of Capital Punishment in Canada British law was predominant in Canada until 1859, in which around 230 infractions, including the stealing of turnips, were punishable by death. Later in 1865, the law changed and only murder, treason and rape were considered capital offences. The first attempt to abolish this unusual punishment was taken in 1914 by parliamentarian Robert Bickerdike, stating strongly in the house "There is nothing, more degrading to society at large . . . than the death penalty." Sadly his attempts were not enough to abolish capital punishment. Later, in 1967 a moratorium was placed on capital punishment until 1976. Finally, in 1976 the bill (Bill C-84) passed with a close margin of six votes, …show more content…
This statement also leads the reader towards the point that those who have taken a life may have the potential to do it again, if we get rid of them it prevents others from endangering others later on. Sadly the article did not provide strong statistics to prove it’s point. To see if these statements are accurate I compared American states that had capital punishment to the states that did not. It turned out that in the past twenty years, the homicide rates in the states with capital punishment has been 48% to 101% higher than the states without capital punishment (Death Penalty Information Center). Also ten out of the twelve states without capital punishment had a homicide rate below the national average. From these numbers it is hard to see capital punishment as a crime deterrent. To further see the falsehood in capital punishment as a deterrence I searched Canada’s homicide rate. The homicide rate in Canada in 1975 (capital punishment abolished in 1976) was at 3.03 (victims per 100,000 people). …show more content…
In such a huge population there will be people with radical thinking, thinking that goes far enough to affect millions in this country. Over the years there have been several shocking and horrific stories in the news regarding homicides that leave you with no faith in mankind. There are people who cross the line in what we as a country can not tolerate, and those people become a danger to society. The story of Michael Bibeau had left many Canadian’s in shock and anger. Becoming a very highlighting story it got many Canadian’s supporting capital punishment. Bibeau’s action of random shooting at the parliament, lead to the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. In Canada we carry a lot of respect as citizens for every rank of our force and are thankful for every sacrifice they make. The shooting of Nathan Cirillo left his kindergarten son without a father and his wife a widow. Outside his family, as citizens our eyes were opened to something new, is it justifiable that Bibeau should be relaxing in prison while Cirillo’s family grieves the loss for the rest of their lives?
The History of Capital Punishment in Canada British law was predominant in Canada until 1859, in which around 230 infractions, including the stealing of turnips, were punishable by death. Later in 1865, the law changed and only murder, treason and rape were considered capital offences. The first attempt to abolish this unusual punishment was taken in 1914 by parliamentarian Robert Bickerdike, stating strongly in the house "There is nothing, more degrading to society at large . . . than the death penalty." Sadly his attempts were not enough to abolish capital punishment. Later, in 1967 a moratorium was placed on capital punishment until 1976. Finally, in 1976 the bill (Bill C-84) passed with a close margin of six votes, …show more content…
This statement also leads the reader towards the point that those who have taken a life may have the potential to do it again, if we get rid of them it prevents others from endangering others later on. Sadly the article did not provide strong statistics to prove it’s point. To see if these statements are accurate I compared American states that had capital punishment to the states that did not. It turned out that in the past twenty years, the homicide rates in the states with capital punishment has been 48% to 101% higher than the states without capital punishment (Death Penalty Information Center). Also ten out of the twelve states without capital punishment had a homicide rate below the national average. From these numbers it is hard to see capital punishment as a crime deterrent. To further see the falsehood in capital punishment as a deterrence I searched Canada’s homicide rate. The homicide rate in Canada in 1975 (capital punishment abolished in 1976) was at 3.03 (victims per 100,000 people). …show more content…
In such a huge population there will be people with radical thinking, thinking that goes far enough to affect millions in this country. Over the years there have been several shocking and horrific stories in the news regarding homicides that leave you with no faith in mankind. There are people who cross the line in what we as a country can not tolerate, and those people become a danger to society. The story of Michael Bibeau had left many Canadian’s in shock and anger. Becoming a very highlighting story it got many Canadian’s supporting capital punishment. Bibeau’s action of random shooting at the parliament, lead to the death of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. In Canada we carry a lot of respect as citizens for every rank of our force and are thankful for every sacrifice they make. The shooting of Nathan Cirillo left his kindergarten son without a father and his wife a widow. Outside his family, as citizens our eyes were opened to something new, is it justifiable that Bibeau should be relaxing in prison while Cirillo’s family grieves the loss for the rest of their lives?