More men believe the death penalty should be reinstated

By Eleanor Dhillon

According to an unscientific survey conducted at The MediaPlex, more men than women believe the death penalty should be reinstated in Canada.

The survey included 10 men and 10 women aged 16 to 50+. The survey revealed that 54 per cent of men who took part in the survey agreed it should be brought back.

One survey respondent said, “people who affect others lives should be punished, anything that involves someone who was victimized and suffers PTSD from their experience should be punishable by death.”

The death penalty was removed for all crimes in 1976 however, it was not abolished in Canada until Dec 10, 1998. The last two people who were executed in Canada were Ronald Turpin, 29, and Arthur Lucas, 54. They were both convicted for separate murders. The last woman to be executed in Canada was Marguerite Pitre on Jan 9, 1953 for her part in the Albert Guay affair.

Ashton Ryce, 19, is a Windsor resident and said the death penalty should be reinstated. Ryce said there are a lot of negative outcomes that could come along with reinstatement.

“One thing to consider about the death penalty is that you have to be 100 per cent certain that the person you are convicting is the correct person,” said Ryce. “There is no going back from killing an innocent person.”

Ryce said the death penalty is not a deterrent and people will continue to commit crimes and the penalty goes against human rights. Ryce also said there should be an option for first time offenders who should not be punished as harshly and given a second chance, or a chance to be rehabilitated.

Rahul Malhotra, 21, said that not only does it go against human rights, but it also had not been proven that killing people who murder stops others from doing the same.

“In my honest opinion I don’t think anyone has the right to take a life away,” said Malhotra. “Why should a human in higher power decide to take a life away from another human being.”

Malhotra said if there was a death penalty, crimes such as murders or kidnapping should be punishable by death, but also says if it were up to him be would assess the crime and use this information to determine the appropriate punishment.

Nuno Agrela, 21, said people who commit horrendous crimes should receive the death penalty. He adds, crimes such as child abuse, terrorism, rape and human trafficking should all be punishable by death.

“Their life isn’t worth more than anyone else’s,” Agrela said. “Do to them what they did to others.”

Agrela said there are different ways of dealing with criminals and ways of decreasing crime rates without killing people depending on the crime being committed.

“It depends on the type of crime,” said Agrela. “If you decriminalized all drugs, and instead of sending them to prison, send them to rehab centres instead, the crime levels will plummet.”