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CANADA REFUSES CLEMENCY FOR MAN ON DEATH ROW IN MONTANA
September 29, 2008: a decision by the Conservative government to stop seeking clemency for a Canadian man on death row in the United States was arbitrary and unfair, his defense lawyer said.
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that allowing a convicted killer to return to Canada would send the wrong message to Canadians. Harper is proposing stricter anti-crime initiatives as he fights for re-election next month.
Ronald Smith was sentenced to die in 1983 after he pleaded guilty to killing two men in cold blood during a drug and alcohol-fuelled trip across Montana with two friends.
Defense lawyer Lorne Waldman told a federal court judge Monday that the government's position is hurting efforts to have the governor of Montana commute Ronald Smith's sentence.
"This is a matter of life and death for Mr. Smith. Everyone knows his best hope is for clemency,"
Before Harper won a minority Tory government in 2006, the former Liberal government had promised to pursue clemency for any Canadian sentenced to die abroad.
"We evaluate these on a case-by-case basis," Harper said during a recent campaign event in Ottawa. "The facts here indicate to us that intervention would not be appropriate, particularly when the governor linked any clemency to repatriation of Mr. Smith."
Waldman said without explanation, the government decided last fall to abandon its decade-long fight to save Smith from a lethal injection.
Documents show Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was open to commuting the sentence if Smith were repatriated to Canada.
Smith still has one more appeal pending in the U.S. before a date for his execution could be set, although his lawyers say that could happen in the spring.
Smith's legal team wants Canada's Federal Court Judge Robert Barnes to order the government to resume fighting to have the sentence commuted.
Government lawyers were slated to make their case for dismissing the suit on September 23. (Sources: Ap, 29/09/2008)
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