The last two executions in Canadian history were violent affairs involving Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas.

History

• Turpin held up a Toronto Red Rooster restaurant in 1962, and fatally shot a police officer who attempted to apprehend him. Lucas killed a drug dealer and a woman in Toronto in November 1961, returned to Detroit, and was arrested there the next day, extradited to Canada, and put on trial in Toronto.

• Both were sentenced to hang and their fate set off a debate about the death penalty in Canada.

• Despite the pleas of thousands of Canadians, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker decided to allow the executions.

• Diefenbaker represented an older, socially and economically conservative vision of Canada, while Lester B. Pearson, his successor, represented a newer, more liberal vision.

• Pearson and his successor, Pierre Trudeau, ended the practice of the death penalty in Canada.

• The debate over the death penalty represented a broader conflict over social and political change in Canada during the 1950s and 1960s.

• The two men were buried side by side in Toronto, with no tombstone or plaque to mark their graves.

  Summary:

  The article discusses the political and social changes that occurred in Canada during the 1960s, focusing on the Pearson Liberals' win in 1963.

• Pearson's successful career in civil service and diplomacy before entering electoral politics.

• The Pearson Liberals promised to expand the role of government to build the welfare state and reshape some of Canada's most important symbols.

• The Pearson government passed significant social policy programs, including the Canada Student Loans Program, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP).

• The Liberals implemented the national medicare system, reshaping Canadians' relationship with their government, and laying the foundation for Canadian social welfare in the twenty-first century.

• Pearson oversaw Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967 and created the Order of Canada to recognize exceptional Canadians and their accomplishments.

• Pearson launched a campaign to design a new Canadian flag, which was initially met with opposition.

History

• After a parliamentary debate that lasted nearly six months, the government invoked closure to end debate and forced members of Parliament to vote on December 15, 1964. The new flag, called the Maple Leaf, quickly became a powerful Canadian symbol.

• Pearson put a moratorium on the death penalty, which was ultimately abolished during the Trudeau era.