Most Canadians want the death penalty back

Most Canadians want the death penalty back

www.canada.com

OTTAWA — A majority of Canadians say they support reinstating the death penalty for murder, according to a new poll.

In an online survey of 1,002 Canadian adults by Angus Reid, conducted in partnership with the Toronto Star, sixty-one per cent said they support reinstating capital punishment — which the Canadian government abolished in 1976. However, 34 per cent of respondents disagreed.

According to pollsters, while a majority of Canadians say they support the return of capital punishment, this support "drops considerably" when given the choice of life in prison without parole. Fi

(visit the link for the full news article)

We have some Canadians who post here -- what do you guys think? Does this reflect your experience of what Canadians really want or do you think it's Harper-administration propaganda?

Apparently these numbers show that Canadians are just as fervent about executions as Americans are. And it says people in Western Canada support the death penalty by a 3 to 1 margin, which is actually HIGHER than the support in the USA!

Is Canada simply becoming more conservative or do you think the poll is just dead wrong (no pun intended)?

www.canada.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

what do you guys think? Does this reflect your experience of what Canadians really want or do you think it's Harper-administration propaganda?

That's all it is . I've talked to many many canadians about this issue . High majority do not support the death penalty , nor do they want it .

i really dislike surveys like this . Ask 1000 canadians . Oh it must mean all of canada!


screw harper and everything he stands for. It's nothing but propaganda!

ya there is an Election comming.
Perfect timing.
would that be rope or guottiene?

Me.

And people who hate on Canada's so called 'soft' justice system, need to consider the fact it appears to work much better than our revenge-oriented system here in the States.

And really it's actually not as soft as you would think. First degree murder carries life in prison with a chance of parole for 25 years. This means that there is a good chance murderers will spend their whole life in jail, all it does is gives them some chance at redemption.

And while the Canadian system occasionally does mess up, for example I don't think Vince Li should ever be free from a mental hospital (the guy who beheaded that poor kid on the Greyhound bus back in 2008) but at least they don't mess up on a regular basis like our justice system does.

And when it comes to things like drunk driving, Canada's justice system is actually quite harsh. I would even say they are harsher on lesser felonies in general than America is.

IMO the Canadian justice system has a good balance of enough punishment to satisfy the public and victims, but enough forgiveness that it doesn't make a statement that humanity is conditional.

reply to post by lampsalot


There is no way this is an accurate representation of how Canadians feel.

It is however an accurate representation of how 61% of people who did an online survey feel.

In an online survey of 1,002 Canadian adults by Angus Reid, conducted in partnership with the Toronto Star, sixty-one per cent said they support reinstating capital punishment

We've seen too many mistakes in the justice system. I would only support a death penalty for the worst and most proven offenders.

I would really hate to see an innocent person be executed, only to find out later, that they were innocent.
Slippery slope...

Is Canada simply becoming more conservative or do you think the poll is just dead wrong (no pun intended)?

I think the poll is dead wrong, and Canadians conservative? No, we just don't have any other choices right now, both the Liberals and the NDP need proper party leaders, and then we need to get to know them
.
At least Harper is an economist, and we just keep telling ourselves that, to feel better until we have a proper choice

reply to post by lampsalot

According to pollsters, while a majority of Canadians say they support the return of capital punishment, this support "drops considerably" when given the choice of life in prison without parole.

This is an interesting phenomenon which shows how misleading some of these polls can be, as small conditions attached to a question can affect the result considerably. I noticed that the same is true for example in abortion polls, where simply specifying a trimester can give you results that differ by more than 60 %.

In other words, there are lies, goddamned lies, and statistics..

You know, if every man and woman who stepped foot in court automatically got the death penalty...not only would we no longer have population issues, but people would be a lot less eager to take stuff to court.

Additionally, just the thought of "What if?" would deter most criminals.

I do NOT support the death penalty, I oppose it. However, I just wanted to put this thought into the bowl.

I'd say its split pretty evenly. I for one think it should be reinstated for certain extreme cases, ie serial killers, child murders, etc. Right now the justice system seems to protect the criminals more than the victims and 25years in prison IMO is not Justice for killing innocent children. If prison was more like it was, should be, back in the day with a steel cot and some reading material I may have a different opinion. however, letting them live with tv/computers/work (for some pay)/education, 3 square meals a day is not justice, it's an insult.

Take for example Robert Picton.Probably the worst Canadian serial killer in a long time.
en.wikipedia.org...

Also it seems that in my experience, 'blue collar' workers are more inclined to think that way compared to their 'white collar' counterparts.

I kind of wonder if the shockingly high numbers for British Columbia have anything to do with the Robert Pickton case. I mean that guy is possibly the worst serial killer North America has ever seen. Plus he was doing most of his pickups in the Downtown Eastside which I have been to and is right in the heart of Vancouver, so his crimes strike very close to home.

But really it seems to me like at least half of Canadians would prefer the status quo to a return to executions. But I could be wrong. Maybe the opinion has shifted quite a bit. It seems like majorities in every country support the death penalty for certain people/crimes, especially if it involves rape or little kids for some reason.

reply to post by lampsalot

Harper-administration propaganda

Yup. Much like every other insane thing "Canadians" support, it's BS. I'd like to see who exactly support this. Now, don't get me wrong, Canada has it's fair share of "conservatives" but ours are a more watered down liberal version, with the exception of King Harper and his decrees.

What kind of crap is that?

This article is BS. No one in Canada wants the death penalty back....

Serious Harper propaganda at play here.

I will say though that Canadians are not the pacifists they are made out to be. I mean, a good deal of them are, they are definitely far more of a pacifistic society than Americans are, but a lot of them have attitudes about crime and punishment that are very 'Texan'.

I would call BS and would also venture that perhaps the 1002 polled were in congress?

I am Canadian and would venture to say that maybe 1 in 10 of my friends would support it.

Hey Harper! Stop kissing up to your Southern Buddy and start kissing up to Canadians...

Peace

As a Canadian, I can honestly say that I would welcome the return of the death penalty.

But only in the very worse cases, serial killers, mass murderers and their ilk.

I can't be sure of a national trend (considering that pollo is B.S.). Here in B.C. most of the people I have talked to are against such measures. If anything I think most of British Columbians don't support the death penalty as a whole with Robert Pickton being the exception.

In my experience, I would have a hard time to agree that most Canadians want capitol punishment back. I know among myself and my friends , I don't know anyone that believes in it. But I don't think I'd mind if they were to put some of these murderers in general pop. They should ask the victim or their family if they want 24 hr segregation, execution or let them live unprotected from other prisoners in general pop.

Originally posted by Joe Canadian
I can't be sure of a national trend (considering that pollo is B.S.). Here in B.C. most of the people I have talked to are against such measures. If anything I think most of British Columbians don't support the death penalty as a whole with Robert Pickton being the exception.

How often do people talk about Pickton in BC? Is he basically like their local version of Hitler?

Originally posted by pigwithoutawig
In my experience, I would have a hard time to agree that most Canadians want capitol punishment back. I know among myself and my friends , I don't know anyone that believes in it. But I don't think I'd mind if they were to put some of these murderers in general pop. They should ask the victim or their family if they want 24 hr segregation, execution or let them live unprotected from other prisoners in general pop.

Didn't you kinda contradict yourself there? You say you're against the death penalty, then said the victim's family should be able to demand it? Or did I misread?

Putting them in the general pop would be a de facto death penalty too, if their victims were kids. For some odd reason even criminals are self-righteous when it comes to kids. Or so I've heard, tbh i don't totally believe it.