I guess I am a bit of two minds on the death penalty. On one side, far too many people have been incarcerated for crimes they didn t commit; on the other, you have individuals who have committed heinous crimes who aren t worth saving and would save us hundreds of thousands of dollars by simply getting rid of them. The problem with the latter is that by killing we become them.
So, I was glad to see Canada abandon the death penalty but having said that, there are too few individuals who, unlike a Bernardo, are given their freedom when they don t deserve it. By not having the death penalty, as a taxpayer, I am willing to pay for their incarceration, but I don t want them ever to see the light of day. No get out of jail cards for murderers; no time off for good behaviour - (they should have thought of that before they committed their crimes).
As I said, I'm of two minds because when I think of that police officer in BC who was recently killed and of the police officer in St. Albert that was killed and the children who were recently killed by their caregivers and the honour killings that have happened - then I think the death penalty would be a good thing because in all of these situations, the perpetrators will, eventually, be set free. To me, that is unconscionable but a fact of life in Canada.
JMHO
