Execution of Stanislaus Lacroix in Quebec. People watch from the top of the telephone phones

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, used to be a normal way of punishment for murder, treason, rape, or mutiny. Capital punishment has now become a big debate about whether it should be an acceptable punishment or not. Capital punishment is the legally authorized murdering of a criminal. Capital punishment was used in Canada from 1865 to 1976 when it was finally removed from the Canadian Criminal Code and replaced with a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years. The last execution in Canada was in 1962. The major problem regarding capital punishment in Canada is whether the trials and cases were fair, and had enough evidence to support a punishment of death, or if the criminal commit a crime bad enough to deserve death. Half a century after the last execution in Canada there are still doubts about the fairness of those two men’s trial, Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin. This is just one example many cases where the criminals were found innocent after the matter. Regardless, capital punishment is an appalling form of punishment our country has gone through.

Based on Capital Punishment’s history in Canada, the story “Two Fisherman” must have taken place sometime in between the 1890’s-1900’s. The last hanging of a person in the gallows took place in November 1890 in Ontario. Since Thomas Delaney was hung in gallows it would have had to taken place before the 1900’s in Canada.

Thomas Delaney was a loyal husband who made one mistake that ended his life. Delaney was convicted of murder when he killed a man who was raping his wife. In my opinion, Delaney should not have been hung. He was protecting his wife from a horrible, disgusting act. In the time the story took place, hanging seemed like the right punishment for Delaney, he killed a man and needed to be punished, but the town seemed to have other thoughts. In the beginning of the story we can already see the townspeople anger towards Delaney being hung, “…. a crowd had gathered on the sidewalk by the lamp-post, and while moths and smaller insects swarmed around the high blue carbon light, the crowd had thrown sticks and bottles and small stones at the out of town workers in the jail yard.” Pg.1. After Delaney had been killed the town started to stone Smitty, the hangman, when in reality he had done nothing wrong but just his job. Essentially, this act has a deeper meaning, why would the town stone a man purely innocent? The townspeople had a different opinion about whether Delaney should have been hung. “One small stone hit him on the head. Blood trickles from the side of his head as he looked around helplessly at all the angry people.” Pg.7. This event illustrates the contrasting mentality of the townspeople to the government and laws laid before them. They did not think Delany should have been hung for his convictions. The hanging of Delaney I believe was an easy way out of the situation, just a way to get the matter off everyone’s hands. Thomas Delaney should not have been killed because he was protecting his wife from a disgusting act. No one deserves to die in this world, Delaney should have been given a second chance, and given the opportunity to find a purpose. Ultimately Thomas Delaney wasn’t given the chance to live his life to the full potential in this story.

Citations

“The end of the rope: The story of Canada’s last executions.”
www.thestar.com/news/gta2012/12/10the_end_of_the_rope_the_story_of_canadas_last_executions.html.

“History of Capital Punishment in Canada.”
www.thoughtco.com/history-of-capital-punishment-in-canada-508141.

“5 Arguments for the Death Penalty.”
www.thoughtco.com/arguments-for-the-death-penalty-721136.

“Abolition of Capital Punishment in Canada.”
www.thoughtco.com/abolition-of-capital-punishment-in-canada-510121.

“Majority of Canadians support return of death penalty, poll finds.”
www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/02/08majority_of_canadians_support_return_of_death_penalty_poll_finds.html.

“Capital punishment in Canada.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Canada.

“Should Canada bring back the death penalty?”
nationalpost.com/opinion/should-canada-bring-back-the-death-penalty.
Edited by: Jessica Dietz