Capital
Punishment
A
Turning Point in the Canadian Justice System and the Canadian Way of
Life
hefty debate. As a result, It
was stated from that day forward the maximum sentence is life
imprisonment without parole. Punishment is a form of retaliation to
those who have broken the laws. The “death penalty” is a form of
punishment to those that have taken, or helped take the life
of another. The three main purposes of punishment are (1)
rehabilitation, incapacitation and the application of justice. The
first factor, rehabilitation refers to the bringing about of changes in
the convict in order to produce law-abiding behavior upon release. The
second, incapacitation details the act of confining an individual so
that he/she may not commit any further crimes against society. Lastly,
the factor of justice plays a very pivotal role in punishing an
offender. Establishing the validity of whether or not an individual
committed a crime is crucial
in today's world. Many individuals have been wrongly convicted and have
suffered long and unnecessary jail terms due to the fact justice was
not correctly applied. Therefore it is very important for court systems
to follow the guidelines put into place to keep this from happening on a
frequent basis. (1) The
main purpose of abolishment of capital punishment is because the
Canadian Government did not believe that “justice” was being
served. People were being executed for crimes that they did not
commit and other guilty parties were getting no punishment for their
crimes. Canada is a 
so-called
“free
nation;” If we kept capital
punishment and continued the slaughter of our own people, then Canada
would be contradicting itself. Therefore, Capital Punishment is
in essence a contradiction of values for which Canada has come to stand
for.
an cat or dog and thrown out to sea. The purpose of the
animal was in the case that the convict had tried to escape, he
would be torn apart by the animals claws (3). We live in a world
that has such cruel things as people being burned alive, buried alive, boiled alive, beheaded,
pushed off cliffs, beaten to death in pillories, disembowelment, killed
in gas chambers, hung by there neck, and shot down in a firing squads.
- In 1998, The Canadian National Defense Act was changed to remove the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole before twenty-five years. This brought Canadian military law in line with civil law in Canada (2).
crowded, antiquated
bastions built of cement, with high iron bars and erected in times when
modern concept of penology and the quality of rehabilitation were
little known to the authorities and where unacceptably cruel treatment,
and unbendable rules prevailed. The prisoner then, and even today,
loses the most precious right that a man may have and that is the right
to think, move and act. He becomes simply a number. He loses all the
amenities of a free man. He is almost a loss soul. Punishment? Is that
not a severe punishment? A sentence of life imprisonment as it is now,
is really a supreme punishment (6).” 
1961(8). As stated
in the timeline, in the 1860s people were being
hanged for such crimes as rape, murder and treason. Ever since the
death penalty started in Canada, there were abolitionists. There have
been people trying to pass bills, as well as just plain protesting on
street corners against the death penalty. The first private bill
calling for the abolition of the death penalty was introduced in
1914(8). This bill was not even taken into consideration by most
members of parliament. This is probably because of the stubbornness of
the people back then. They believed in traditional ideals not modern
day advances. It was not until 1954 that something was actually changed
concerning capital punishment and that was that rape was no longer to
be punished by death. This was a big step in the view of an
abolitionist because after so many years of trying, they finally got
through to some people. This increase in people wanting to abolish the
death penalty would continue to steadily rise and the members of
parliament would soon catch on to the trend. In 1956, a parliamentary
committee recommended exempting juvenile offenders from the death
penalty, providing expert counsel at all stages of the proceedings and
the institution of mandatory appeals in capital cases (8). 
