52 % of respondents said they oppose or strongly oppose capital punishment, while 39 % support it

A new poll suggests just over 1/2i of Canadians oppose the death penalty. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll found that 52 % of respondents said they oppose or strongly oppose capital punishment, while 39 % support it. The survey of 1,000 people found no significant difference between men and women on the issue. The Commons abolished capital punishment by free vote on July 14, 1976, replacing it with a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for 1st-degree murder. There were 710 executions in Canada between 1867 and 1962. The last execution was carried out on Dec. 11, 1962, when 2 men were hanged in Toronto. The survey was conducted June 5 to 8 and is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points.