Canada did away with Capital Punishment in 1976 with Bill C-84. Prior to that Capital Punishment was reserved for planned murders and the killing of Police and Prison Guards.
It seems, when you think about it, fair enough - we have an obligation to protect those who protect us.
But - the myth is that we did away with Capital Punishment. What we did away with was the right to a fair and unbiased trial. Canadian Police - and Calgary Police especially, have executed far more people in the decades following the suspension of Capital Punishment than every were executed with it. Seldom have they been offered the kind of lethal force that justifies it, and never have they been so well prepared with less violent means - with Kevlar Vests, tasers, pepper spray, etc, yet they continue to kill people at a rate that make the most generous implementation of capital punishment seem civilized by comparison.
It's overdue that we re-imagine policing in our country - things are safer than ever they've been, yet police are executing more people than ever for comparatively trivial offences. Without the benefit of judge or trial. It's a myth that we've done away with Capital Punishment. What's true is that we've made probably the least qualified people in our population both judges and executioners.