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CANADA: Homicide Rates in Canada

The removal of capital punishment from the Canadian Criminal Code in 1976 has not led to an increase in the homicide rate in Canada. In fact, Statistics Canada reports that the homicide rate for 2001 stayed stable for the third year in a row at approximately 1.8 homicides for every 100,000 population.

 The total number of homicides in Canada in 2001 was 554, just eight more than in 2000, but 167 fewer than in 1975, the year before capital punishment was abolished.

 Homicide rates are generally at least three times lower in Canada than in the United States. In 1999, Canada's homicide rate was 1.8 per 100,000 population. In that same year, the U.S. homicide rate was 5.7 per 100,000 population in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

 Canadian Sentences for Murder

 While proponents of the death penalty may cite capital punishment as a deterrent to murder, that has not been the case in Canada. Sentences currently in use in Canada for murder are:

 1st degree murder - life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years

 2nd-degree murder - life sentence with no possibility of parole for at least 10 years

 Manslaughter - life sentence with parole eligibility after seven years

 Wrongful Convictions

 A strong argument used against the death penalty is the possibility of mistakes. Wrongful convictions in Canada have had a high profile, including:

 David Milgaard - sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1969 murder of Gail Miller, a Saskatoon nursing aide. Milgaard spent 22 years in prison, The Supreme Court set aside Milgaard's conviction in 1992, and he was cleared by DNA evidence in 1997. The Saskatchewan government awarded Milgaard $10 million for his wrongful conviction. Donald Marshall Jr. - convicted of the 1971 stabbing murder of Sandy Seale in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Marshall was acquitted in 1983 after spending 11 years in prison.

 Guy Paul Morin - sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for the 1st- degree murder of 9-year-old neighbour Christine Jessop, Morin was exonerated in 1996 by DNA testing. Morin and his parents received a $1.25 million settlement.

 Thomas Sophonow - tried 3 times and convicted twice of the 1981 murder of donut shop waitress Barbara Stoppel in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Both convictions were overturned on appeal, and the Supreme Court prevented a 4th trial of Sophonow. DNA evidence cleared Sophonow in 2000, and he was awarded $2.6 million in compensation.

 Clayton Johnson - convicted in 1993 of the 1st-degree murder of his wife. In 2002, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The Crown said it had no new evidence and Johnson was set free.