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Marking the 50 year anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty, the presentation will examine the history of the death penalty in Canada, with a focus on the period between Confederation in 1867 and the abolition of capital punishment in 1976.

It will explore topics such as the inconsistent application of the death sentence, the treatment of women and other groups, wrongful convictions, the difficult journey toward abolition, and the last two hangings at Toronto’s notorious Don Jail.

This is the 4th installment in our ongoing series: “Our Hard-fought-for Rights and Freedoms – a History”.  Given the rapid rollback of rights that’s currently underway in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, now seems like a good time to familiarize ourselves with what it took to expand the rights of Canadians over the years. Abolition of the death penalty took away the right of the government to execute its own citizens.