After he kills three people in a bloody rampage, he sits in court waiting his judgment. He knows he is guilty, he knows that the jury knows, as the evidence is clearly not in his favour. The lead foreman announces the verdict, "guilty". The sentencing aspect will be handed out by the judge in one month's time. The judge in his opening remarks advises the defendant that he had no difficulty with the punishment, but due to his citizenship, the death penalty is out of the question therefore, he will not be killed for his criminal actions, but be sentenced to life in an air-conditioned eight by ten room, with full education package available "gratis". Canada does not have Capital Punishment in effect. .
After a debate of 98 hours, the death penalty was abolished by only six votes. It is said that threats were made toward the members of Parliament and their families by pro death penalty advocates. The duty of a member is to vote in the view of a Canadian; in this case, they were viewing the debate with personal feelings. In 1987, the federal government in charge, the Progressive Conservatives, had the idea to hold a free vote, to reinstate capital punishment to Canada. Unfortunately, the justice minister, Ray Hnatyshyn, did not like the idea of killing people for their extremely rash crimes. The minister forced the other MPs to vote in disagreement, causing the failure to reinstate the bill. Many people believe that if it was not for Mister Hnatyshyn, the death penalty would be in effect at this point today. .
Ray Hnatyshyn really should have taken the realistic view of his decision. The death penalty takes the serious criminals off the streets, and strikes fear into the criminals thinking of doing such an act. This is called "deterrence", which means, to punish someone and creating fear in other people for the punishment. No evidence shows that the death penalty deters crime, but most people fear death, therefore, that would create some deterrence.
