For many years, the Canadian population has been divided in its opinion of capital punishment. Since its abolishment in 1976, there has been increased support for the death penalty. The major obstacle for the supporters is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It states that everyone has the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. This includes death, even if there are many reasons as to why so many people support the death penalty. Canada has had its share of mass murderers and serial killers. These criminals take the lives of multiple people yet if they are found guilty, they have the right to stay alive and only have to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison. Should someone who has killed three, …show more content…
After that, they may go back to civilian life. Being a murderer who has served almost three decades in prison, it is very likely that they might not return to a regular life. One must also think of the people who will be frightened to think of the possibility of a murderer living in their neighbourhood. It is also possible that this criminal could kill again. With the current Charter of Rights, we risk that chance.
When someone loses a loved one to a murder, one wants justice to be served. For many, seeing the murder of a father, sister, son or niece in prison for a minimum of 25 years is not enough for them. As Canadian citizens, they want justice for their loss. The concept of ‘eye for an eye’ is very appealing to them. With capital punishment in place, it would provide comfort and closure to the family of the deceased.
To fix the problems of not having the death penalty, we can amend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to say “everyone has the right to life, except if a person takes the life of another” and “any person charged with murder will be subjected to capital punishment” so that people may once again feel that criminals get what they