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Tories Won't Intervene to Protect Canadians from Foreign Death Penalty

unimaginative2

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Tories bar death sentence interventions

Canadian Press

November 1, 2007 at 5:58 PM EDT

OTTAWA — 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 have announced a change in Canada's foreign policy when it comes to Canadians on death row.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has 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.

The government also announced that it will not attempt to save other Canadians who were given the death penalty following a fair trial in democratic countries like the U.S.

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

The Liberals say the policy shift is indicative of the Conservatives' eye-for-an-eye mentality on law and order.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague accuses them of giving tacit approval to capital punishment because they believe in it.

“Foreign policy is always a mirror of our domestic values,†Mr. McTeague said. “Here's the ideologues in the Conservative party trying to do indirectly that which they cannot do directly — which is capital punishment by proxy.

“(We must) expose for Canadians the ideological bent of this party, which is an eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth. That's completely inconsistent with where Canadians have been on this issue.â€

Mr. Smith, who killed two men during a road trip south of the border in 1982, is the only Canadian currently on death row in the U.S.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has said he is undecided about whether to commute his sentence.
 
This isn’t an innocent bystander caught up in a third-world country. This is a murderer in a democratic country who was found guilty at trial. Death sentences are automatically appealed and his sentence still stands. At the end of the day, why should the Canadian government waste taxpayer dollars on him? The only injustice is how long it’s taken for them to ‘execute’ the sentence.
 
Four reasons:

One. There is an overwhelming international consensus that the death penalty is barbaric and has no place in civilised societies. Canada is party to that consensus, or its citizens are anyway, and our actions relating to our nationals abroad should reflect that. Defending our values is not a waste of taxpayer money.

Two. I don't know about Montana specifically, but in many, many death-penalty states there are enormous problems with fair trials for capital cases. Many of them do not pass even basic international judicial standards, particularly when public defenders are involved. The Faulder case for example (last Canadian to be executed) contained significant irregularities including blatant violation of the defendant's consular rights as a Canadian citizen. It's far from accurate to assume that just because someone is tried in the US they are getting anything like a fair trial.

Three. Canadian law takes a very dim view of the death penalty abroad, for example by forbidding extradition on capital charges, even to the US.

Four. How do we define "democratic country?" There's a wide range, and by making that judgment as we will inevitably have to we could set off any number of international incidents. How about Singapore? Will we oppose the death penalty there on a Canadian, but not in the US? Much easier to just oppose it, period.
 
Well put,

Now we have to be concerned that the Alliance Party is going to reinstate the death penalty in Canada?
 
Saw this on the news last night too (CTV news albeit the 24 hour station one). Apparantly there is growing word from the back caucus of the Reform roots of the Conservative party that the death penalty should be re-instated.
 
Tories deny hidden agenda on death penalty

JOAN BRYDEN

The Canadian Press

November 3, 2007

OTTAWA -- The Harper government scrambled yesterday to clarify its position on capital punishment amid opposition accusations that the Tories are harbouring a hidden agenda to bring back the death penalty in Canada.

The accusations followed Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's surprise announcement Thursday that Canada will no longer seek clemency for Canadian murderers sentenced to death in other democratic countries after a fair trial.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted the new policy is not a prelude to bringing back the death penalty in Canada. "We have no desire to open the debate on capital punishment here in Canada," he told reporters in Halifax.

But Liberals said the move is just a "sneak preview" of what the minority Harper government has planned should it ever win a majority. They bolstered their argument by pointing to a number of Mr. Harper's senior ministers, including Mr. Day, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who have in the past publicly called for the return of capital punishment.

"I think Canadians have every right to be wary about where they intend to go," Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said.

"This is one of those little cases where the canopy, the tent, the veil has been lifted just a little bit and Canadians are seeing what the real intentions of this crowd would be."

NDP House Leader Libby Davies echoed Mr. Goodale's warning, saying she's "very skeptical" about the government's assurances that it won't reopen the capital punishment debate at home.

While the Tories were adamant in rejecting those assertions, confusion remained over how the government intends to apply the new policy to Canadians facing execution abroad.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier appeared to suggest at one point that the government has not adopted a new policy at all. He suggested it has simply decided not to seek clemency in one case - that of Alberta-born Ronald Allen Smith, who faces lethal injection in Montana for the 1982 murders of two men.
 
Ah....and I'm reminded why I love the Tories (in present/Reform/Alliance incarnation): just when you think they have their act together some crazy--Stockwell in this case--starts running off his mouth about some right-wing issue without thinking what he's saying, and they quickly have a PR disaster on their hands. This is the sort of thing that swing voters will be repulsed by.
 
The topic of the last article posted moved from that of the Canadian government deciding not to appeal on behalf of those on death row in the United States, to an assumption on the part of the Liberals that the Conservatives now intend to bring back the death penalty in Canada.

Maybe they should stick to the point at hand. This is not about the laws in Canada, it's about the laws of the United States. The simple fact is, whether we like it or not, many jurisdictions there have a death penalty. If a person goes and kills in one of those jurisdictions, they should expect to face the potential of such a penalty. This individual did not commit murder in Canada, he did so in the United States.

Not once have the Liberals suggested that the trial in question was biased or compromised. If they believe it was, then they should look into that issues. Sadly, it otherwise looks like they are using the murder trial abroad as a means to politik at home.
 
The fact remains that Canada does not support the death penalty though. Even if it is just to put up a face, Canada should continue to object to the use of the death penalty. I mean we don't deport people who are under the death penalty in other countries even if it is a fair trial. We've refused to deport US prisoners in the past.
 

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