Ford does not support death penalty, despite ‘poor-taste joke’ at London police gala

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford does not support the death penalty, a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday night.

That’s in response to a comment he made at a recent London police gala on January 29, where he appeared to endorse the return of the death penalty

“God forbid they kill an innocent person. I don’t even give them 25 years—I send them right to Sparky, and then we’ll take care of everything from there,” he said while talking about home invaders.

“The premier made a poor-taste joke out of frustration for the many people affected by violent criminals out on our streets because of the federal government’s broken bail system and soft-on-crime policies,” spokesperson Grace Lee said in the statement.

Ford has repeatedly called for harsher penalties for serious crimes.

The remark elicited groans and some light applause.

“The premier does not support capital punishment but rather firmly believes more needs to be done to keep violent and repeat offenders behind bars where they belong,” Lee said.

“Sparky” appeared to be a reference to the electric chair, a device that has never been officially used for capital punishment in Canada.

The last execution in Canada took place in 1962, when two men were hanged in Toronto.

- with files from CP24’s Bryann Aguilar