Reinstating the Death Penalty in Canada
Reinstating the Death Penalty in Canada The death penalty, more formally known as capital punishment, was made illegal in Canada on July 14th, 1976. However, were it to be reinstated the country would benefit greatly. Capital punishment should be reinstated in Canada and enacted by means of the guillotine for several reasons. The guillotine is by far the most humane and cost effective method of execution in history, there are excessive amounts of funds being put into caring for and housing prisoners and further crimes may be prevented or deterred.
The guillotine is a form of execution that was introduced in 1792 in Revolution era France by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. “It consists of two upright posts surmounted by a crossbeam and grooved so as to guide an oblique-edged knife, the back of which is heavily weighted to make it fall forcefully upon (and slice through) the neck of a prone victim.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). Despite its age, the guillotine is swift, humane and rarely fails. However, despite the blatantly obvious upsides to using the guillotine, the most commonly used method of execution is lethal injection. Dr. Leonidas Koniaris and his team of researchers have examined the blood anesthetic levels of forty nine U.S. prisoners executed by means of lethal injection and determined that they were capable of feeling pain in up to 90% of the cases and may have actually been conscious at the time of death in up to 40% of cases. What the prisoner would feel, should he or she be conscious at the time of death, is the severe burning sensation of asphyxiation, intense muscle cramping and the eventual stop of their heart. According to Dr. Harold Hillman, consciousness is "probably lost within 2-3 seconds, due to a rapid fall of intracranial perfusion of blood” when the blade of the guillotine completely severs the head. This makes for a quick and relatively painless death.
Additionally, the possibility of death is enough to make a person think twice
The guillotine is a form of execution that was introduced in 1792 in Revolution era France by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. “It consists of two upright posts surmounted by a crossbeam and grooved so as to guide an oblique-edged knife, the back of which is heavily weighted to make it fall forcefully upon (and slice through) the neck of a prone victim.” (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). Despite its age, the guillotine is swift, humane and rarely fails. However, despite the blatantly obvious upsides to using the guillotine, the most commonly used method of execution is lethal injection. Dr. Leonidas Koniaris and his team of researchers have examined the blood anesthetic levels of forty nine U.S. prisoners executed by means of lethal injection and determined that they were capable of feeling pain in up to 90% of the cases and may have actually been conscious at the time of death in up to 40% of cases. What the prisoner would feel, should he or she be conscious at the time of death, is the severe burning sensation of asphyxiation, intense muscle cramping and the eventual stop of their heart. According to Dr. Harold Hillman, consciousness is "probably lost within 2-3 seconds, due to a rapid fall of intracranial perfusion of blood” when the blade of the guillotine completely severs the head. This makes for a quick and relatively painless death.
Additionally, the possibility of death is enough to make a person think twice