Conservatives Abandon Canadians on Death Row

[janet]

The Conservative government's announcement that it will no longer stand up for Canadians who face the death penalty in the United States is drawing fire from the opposition.

The Tories officially announced a change in Canada's foreign policy when it comes to Canadians on death row.

Public Safely Minister Stockwell Day said his government will not plead for the life of Alberta born Ronald Allen Smith, who faces lethal injection in Montana for the 1982 murder of two men.

"We will not actively pursue bringing back to Canada murderers who have been tried in a democratic country that supports the rule of law." Day told the House of Commons yesterday.

"It would send a wrong message. We want to preserve public safely here in Canada."

Canada has not had a state-sanctioned execution since 1962, and the federal government has havitually opposed the death penalty abroad in cases involving Canadians.

Having simply assumed that Canada's policy would continue, employees at Foreign Affrais indicated last week that they would seek to have Smith's sentence commuted.

But they were publicly corrected by their new political bosses yesterday.

The Conservative benches erupted in catcalls when the issue was raised in the Commons, with a handful of Tory MP's shouting "Murderer!" and "He's a murderer!" at the Liberals when they raised Smith's case.

The government repeated several times that it has no plans to reopen the capital punishment debate in Canda.

But Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said the Tories' actions speak louder than words. He called their sudden reversal of a three-decades-old Canadian polity extremely troubling.

"The fact that this government doesn't even want to try (asking for clemency) shows me what this government would try doing to Canada if they had a majority," Dion said.

"We could see the return of the capital-punishment debate in Canada."

Yesterday, the Liberals pointed out several inherent contradictions and potential problems with the new Tory policy:

Canada was among 72 countries that yesterday urged the United Nations to call for an international moratorium on the death penalty - the same day the Commons heard Smith would be left to die in the United States.

Canadian law prohibits the extradition of an American citizen back to the United States when facing the death penalty.

But even as it protects Americans from the death penalty, the government will remain silent while Canadians are executed south of the border.

In Day's words, Canada will refrain from opposing executions of Canadian citizens only in "democratic countries that support the rule of law."

That means that every time a Canadian faces the death penalty abroad, the Canadian government will now need to pass public judgment on whether that country is a stable democracy, which opens the door to bitter diplomatic disputes.

Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a former Justice Minister and human-rights lawyer, says he was shocked by the Conservative announcement.

"We're not asking that (Smith) be returned to Canada," Cotler said.

"We're not saying he didn't get a fair trial. We are saying that on the issue of capital punishment, this country has a law, this country has a policy, this country has a principle domestically and internationally. We will not support capital punishment here. Fini."

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois also blasted the reversal of polity.

Block Quebecois Leader Gilles Douceppe said the death penalty is abhorrent and he cast the government position as a diplomatic disaster in waiting.

(source: The Toronto Star
November 2nd, 2007)

[sdl]

TYpical for that jackass Stockard Day. No wonder he's Bush's butt-buddy

[janet]

Yes, it's typical of all GWB's friends. It really is up to those of us within the abolitionist movement, however, to contact Canadian opposition leaders who oppose this position and indicate revulsion for providing the rope with which to create the noose to hang someone. The Coucil of Europe has come out with a strong statement condemning this position and Canada should become a pariah nation, with other non-death penalty activists making their opinions clear.

[janet]

Ronald Smith, the 50-year-old Albertan facint execution in the U.S., is taking the Conservative government to court over its decision not to seek clemency for him from Montana's death row.

Smith, sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1982 killing of two Native American men, had been supported for more than a decade by Canadian officials in his bid to be spared execution.

But a lawsuit filed by Smith's lawyers on Tuesday in the Federal Court of Canada argues that the government's "unexpected" reversal last month of long-standing foreign policy on the clemency issue violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and has sent as message of "indifference" about Smith's fate to U.S. officials, placing him "in peril for his life and at risk of cruel and unusual treatment."

Three federal cabinit ministers involved in making the decision or defending it in the House of Commons - Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, Foreirn Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day - are targeted in the suit.

A spokesperson in the justice minister's office did not respond to media requests for comment.

The legal challenge, led by four top Canadian lawyers, also argues that the government's decision - communicated in an e-mail to CanWest News Service on Oct. 31 - was a "direct political reaction" to an earlier CanWest News Service story about Smith's bid for clemency and violates a "constitutionally-obligatory" practice of intervening to try to save all Canadians on death row around the world.

"Although sparked by and directed at Smith, the government's decision "had not been formally communicated" to him or his lawyers, "who learned of the decision entirely through the media," the lawsuit states.

"This announcement was a direct political reaction to media reports describing the Government of Canada's long standing efforts to seek commutation for the applicant with the Government of Montana," the suit argues. Smith was "never apprised" by government officials that they were "considering abandoning their efforts on his behalf."

Smith's lawyers had discussed the case with Canadian consular officials "days before" the government's reversal of the clemency policy "and were led to believe that the Government of Canada would continue to pursue its commutation efforts" with Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the lawsuit notes.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion quickly applauded the legal challenge, issuing a statement urging the government to scrap its new clemency policy before the lawsuit goes to court.

"This Conservative government can not pick and choose which Canadians deserve to have their rights respected," said Dion. "By not seeking commutation for Mr. Smith, this government is giving their tacit approval for his execution, despite the fact that Canadians have rejected the use of the death penalty."

Amnesty International's Canadian office also announced its backing of the legal channenge.

"It's time for the Canadian government to recognize that its new clemency policy is hopelessly flawed," said Amnesty's secretary general Alex Neve. "This shameful abandonment of basic human rights principles tarnishes Canada's international reputation and endangers all Canadians detained abroad."

In October, CanWest News Service reported that Canada was working to save Smith from execution as part of a decades-old policy rooted in Canada's 1976 abolition of capital punishment.

Days later, a Public Safety spokesperson told CanWest News Service that the government had halted its effort to seek clemency for Smith.

And on Oct. 31, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson told CanWest News Service that the government had halted its effort to seek clemency for Smith.

And On Oct. 31, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson said Canada would no longer seek clemency for Canadians on death row in "democratic countries, where threre has been a fair trial."

The federal opposition has been united in its condemnation of the policy, and a host of international human rights advocates - including the Council of Europe and the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, former Canadian judge louise Arbour - have denounced Canada's decision.

The newly filed legal challenge states: "Up until this decision, the Government of Canada had actively sought commutation on humanitarian grounds of all death sentences imposed on Canadians anywhere in the world, a practice consistent with that applied by other Western states that have abolished the death penalty."

Smith's new Canadian legal team - which includes University of Ottawa law professer Craig Forcese, and high-profile defence lawyers Marlys Edwardh, Lorne Waldman and Sarah Loosemore - argues that the government has isnored Smith's rights under the Charter by "abandoning efforts" to seek clemency on his behalf, "communicating to U.S. officials their indifference to his treatment," and "at least tacitly signalling their approval of the death penalty sentence.

In an interview on Tuesday, Forcese said "enormous damage has been done" to Smith's bid for a reprieve from execution and that any Canadian who ends up facing a death sentence anywhere around the world will also be imperiled by the government's sudden shift in policy.

He said that the case could be heard as early as April.

Amont those slated to file affidavits in support of Smith's challenge is Gar Pardy, a former top consular official with Foreign Affairs who played a key role in repatriating numerous Canadians abroad.

Nicholson came under fire earlier this week in the House of Commons from Liberal public safety critic Sue Barnes, who argued that Canada's hardline stance on the Smith case could scuttle efforts to seek clemency for 2 Canadians being held in Ethiopia and China and facing possible death sentences.

The government has recently appeared to soften its stance on the policy, indicating that it would review "each case on its merits" rather than applying a blanket prohibition on seeking clemency in any democratic country.

Nicholson has also implied in various statements that "mass" or "multiple" murderers would not be candidates for Canadian appeals for clemency.

Government officials have not responded to CanWest News Service requests to clarify the policy.

(source: CanWest News Service)

[happyhaddock]

janet said:

In Day's words, Canada will refrain from opposing executions of Canadian citizens only in "democratic countries that support the rule of law."

One could argue that the USA is neither of those.

[sdl]

happyhaddock said:

janet said:

In Day's words, Canada will refrain from opposing executions of Canadian citizens only in "democratic countries that support the rule of law."

One could argue that the USA is neither of those.

Only in Day's warped mind would it be.

I'm surprised Bush didn't tell Day about DIEBOLD when Day was running for PM