Mr. Speaker, today is the day that has been declared by civil rights activists as World Day Against the Death Penalty, a day to mark a worldwide campaign for a moratorium on executions.
Canada has observed a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since the early 1960s. With the removal of the death penalty from the Criminal Code in 1976 and from the National Defence Act in 1988, Canada became a de facto abolitionist state.
The Government of Canada encourages the abolition of the death penalty internationally and supports all efforts to ensure respect for safeguards in its application. Canada calls upon countries that have not abolished the death penalty to do so or to at least consider a moratorium on its use.
Canada further urges those governments maintaining the death penalty to ensure that any death sentences are carried out in accordance with international law, in particular by not imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18, and to respect the right to consular assistance for foreign nationals.