The Case Of Tracy Latimer: The Criminal Code Of Canada

On October 24th, 1993, Tracy Latimer, age 12, was killed by her father. Robert Latimer, a farmer from Wilkie Saskatchewan decided to take his daughter’s life into his own hands. Tracy was born with severe cerebral palsy, which led to serious mental and physical health problems. This caused Tracy a lot of pain, and no number of painkillers could appease the suffering she felt. Robert could no longer bear to watch his daughter in so much pain, thus making the decision to end her life. He killed his daughter by leaving her in a running car in a closed garage. He attached a hose to the exhaust pipe and lead it into the car. Tracy was later found dead, with high levels of carbon monoxide in her system. Robert was then arrested and charged with

He killed someone and doing so is against the law. Under the Criminal Code of Canada in section 222 it states, “A person commits homicide when, directly or indirectly, by any means, he causes the death of a human being,” The Criminal Code of Canada does state an exception, “a person does not commit homicide within the meaning of this Act by reason only that he causes the death of a human being by procuring, by false evidence, the conviction and death of that human being by sentence of the law,” which makes Latimer guilty of homicide under the Canadian laws. Consequently, Latimer was sentenced to serve time in prison, with no chance at parole for ten

Tracy’s personal rights, freedoms, and choices were violated by her father’s act. Her freedom was taken into the hands of her father when he killed her. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states in section 7, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” This means that every Canadian citizen, Tracy included, have the right to life. She did not have a choice in whether she wanted to live or not, although she would not have been able to communicate what she wanted either way. Tracy lacked the ability to care for herself, so her family was in control of her personal rights and freedoms, and were the ones making choices on her