A Grim History of the Death Penalty in Canada

Death by hanging was a grim reality within the Canadian criminal justice system until its abolition in 1976. But what did capital punishment look like in Canada? In this session, we will discuss the history of the death penalty in Canada, with a focus on topics such as the inconsistent application of the death sentence, the treatment of women, wrongful conviction, the difficult journey toward abolition, and the last two hangings at Toronto’s notorious Don Jail.

Tickets are $10. Those who register through Ticketscene will be sent a Microsoft Teams link approximately 24 hours before the presentation.

Lorna Poplak is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and researcher with a fascination for the dark side of history. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime. Her two nonfiction books, both published by Dundurn Press, are Drop Dead: A Horrible History of Hanging in Canada (2017), and The Don: The Story of Toronto’s Infamous Jail (2021). In 2022, The Don was shortlisted for both the Crime Writers of Canada Excellence Award and the Heritage Toronto Book Award. Lorna is currently working on a book about great (and not so great!) prison escapes, to be published by Dundurn in Fall 2025. For more information, please visit www.lornapoplak.com.