Why canada abolished the death penalty

One of the earliest recorded executions in Canada was in in newly-founded Halifax. A sailor named Peter Cartcel was charged with killing a man. He was quickly found guilty and hanged two days later. Some offences, including stealing turnips and being found disguised in a forest , were punishable by death.

The drive to either further limit or abolish capital punishment began in But the law remained unchanged despite frequent submissions to Parliament. In , Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas were the last of prisoners to be executed in Canada since capital punishment was officially enacted in In , a government bill to apply mandatory life imprisonment in all murder cases, except when the victim was an on-duty police officer or prison guard, was passed by a House of Commons vote of —70 for a five-year trial period.

This legislation was again sustained in , supported by a vote majority. In , the Commons abolished the death penalty by a majority of six votes. Capital punishment remained lawful only under the National Defence Act. It permitted the death penalty for members of the Armed Forces found guilty of cowardice, desertion, unlawful surrender, or spying for the enemy.

In , Canada eliminated the death penalty for military members. It is now a fully abolitionist country when it comes to state executions. There has been a vigorous public debate over whether capital punishment should be reinstated. It would take until before Canada wiped out all references to capital punishment, with its elimination from the National Defence Act for such military offences as treason and mutiny.

Through the decades, the issue has been a source of fierce debate, ignited by serial killers such as Clifford Olson and wrongful convictions, like that of Steven Truscott.

In , the House of Commons examined the issue again but ended up voting to in favour of not reinstating the death penalty. Canada has actively opposed the death penalty in recent decades, refusing extradition requests to the U.

The federal government has also, until recently, established a tradition of requesting clemency for Canadians sentenced to death abroad. In late , however, Stephen Harper's Conservative government indicated a change in procedure.

It was after this defeat that in , under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the Government of Canada passed legislation temporarily suspending the death penalty for all crimes of murder except the killing of a police officer or a prison guard in the execution of their duties.

During this trial period, all death sentences for murder were automatically commuted. On December 29, the five-year moratorium ended. On May 29, another Bill was passed extending the moratorium for another five years. The last time the Canadian military had a legal execution was in when Harold Pringle was shot at dawn in Italy.

Since , all civilian executions in Canada were conducted by hanging military executions were traditionally by shooting , though there were some experiments in variations of hanging methods in the traditional long drop was the standard until abolition of the death penalty for ordinary crimes in A long line of Prime Ministers openly opposed to the death penalty began with John Dieffenbakker and ended only with Stephen Harper who has openly supported the death penalty.