Over the past decade, Canadians have either watched helplessly or fallen victim to escalating violent crime in this country. With each horrific incident that makes the news, the calls and support for reinstating the death penalty in Canada grows. But folks, that is a terrible idea.At face value, I think capital punishment is an excellent option for dealing with the worst of the worst in our society. I have absolutely no qualms about putting murderers, rapists, and child sexual predators to death; after they’ve been tried and found guilty, of course. My opinion isn’t an outlier either. According to a survey conducted in 2024 by Research Co. and Glacier Media, 57% of Canadians support reinstating the death penalty for murder..MORGAN: Carney's eco-zealotry is crushing Canada's economy.So while there may be sufficient public support, the primary problem is that our judicial system is flawed in a lot of ways. For starters, there is far too much focus on the well-being of and impacts on the perpetrator and not on the victims. Additionally, and more relevant to this discussion, our prosecutors and judges are not entirely free from political influence. As a result, the potential exists for capital punishment to not only be applied erroneously, like it could have in David Milgaard's case, but also intentionally abused. And that should give us pause. .A prime example of the latter is the ongoing treatment of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber by some of our politicians and Crown prosecutors in the courts.Lich and Barber were both arrested in Ottawa in February 2022 during the Freedom Convoy protest for their roles organizing and leading it. Both were charged and found guilty of mischief, while Barber was additionally found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order.But their ordeal through the justice system has gone far beyond what many charged with much more serious offences have ever had to endure..BARAZZUTTI: The real reason tuition keeps going up at Canada’s universities.Lich, for example, has spent a total of 19 days in jail following her initial arrest. She also spent an additional 30 days in jail following a trumped-up breach of bail charge after attending an awards gala where she allegedly contacted Tom Marazzo, another protest organizer. The Crown stayed the breach of bail charge, so the issue of whether she was in fact guilty or innocent on that charge will never be determined. This is what is often referred to as lawfare, where the process is the punishment, and a clear indicator that the government can be callously vindictive if it wants without much recourse..Now contrast Lich’s treatment with that of Natasha Maccallum. Maccallum was recently arrested in Scarborough and charged with second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Robert Dawson, 67, on September 2, 2024.According to court documents obtained by Global News, Maccallum had previously been detained by police on June 24 and charged with assault with a weapon. She was released on bail shortly afterwards with no court-ordered supervision. On June 27, Maccallum threatened to kill a man, was detained by police, and was once again released on bail later that day. Then a few months later, she killed a man in cold blood..LYTLE: Castle Doctrine for Alberta.Let’s check the scoreboard, shall we.Lich spent 49 days in jail for mischief.Maccallum spent zero days in jail and was released on bail twice before murdering someone. But at least she didn’t publicly embarrass the government..Lich and Barber never threatened anyone with a weapon. They never threatened to kill anyone. They didn’t call for the death of Jews, wave terrorist flags, or terrorize people of a visible religious minority at their homes, businesses, and places of worship.All they did was protest the questionable actions of an ethically compromised government at the time. For that grievous sin, the Crown is seeking an unparalleled seven years in prison for Lich and eight years for Barber for mischief. .WHISSELL: What you must know about Canada's critical minerals.But if Lich and Barber’s actions constituted mischief, then the Crown certainly constitutes political persecution. Unfortunately, no one aside from the media can really call them out for it, and not many who have the platform to do so are calling them out.Which is why we can never give the courts the power to sentence Canadians to death, no matter how much some people might deserve it and how many people want to see it reinstated. There just isn’t enough accountability. .Our politicians can appoint judges, but they can’t fire them, no one can. The job is theirs until they choose to retire or resign. Until that changes, we can’t reinstate the death penalty.Our Crown prosecutors can apparently act as agents of revenge for the government with impunity. Until that changes, we can’t reinstate the death penalty..AUBUT: When law becomes plunder.Our media can make a case of mischief out to be worse than murder. Until that changes, we can’t reinstate the death penalty.In short, with the way things are, we simply cannot trust our justice system and our government to not cause mischief with state-sanctioned murder.
