Grits blast Tory reversal on death-penalty policy
Updated Thu. Nov. 1 2007 2:00 PM ET, The Canadian Press
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,'' 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.''
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. Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071101/death_penalty_071101/
As if the story isn't disturbing enough, it was followed by a string of truly disgusting bloodthirsty comments.
Many, many people have been wrongly convicted of murder and other serious crimes. There are many reasons to oppose the death penalty, but that has to be one of the most compelling. And surely, with Stephen Truscott acquitted just two months ago, we can't have forgotten so soon that Canada sentenced a 14-year-old child to death for a murder he didn't commit.
This is just another sign that the Conservative government cares more about being friends with the American administration than it does about Canadians or Canadian values. And their trolls are busy on the Internet today.
2 comments:
Death penalty is a divisive issue. Mulroney was the last one to bring it up for discussion. Every day, Harper's government is paralleling all the negative aspects of Mulroney's years. Especially on this issue.
One thing that is a problem: Harper will use this issue to paint Liberals as "soft on crime". That's what this is about. While the truth is that Liberals believe the academic research about justice issues, Harper will try to paint Liberals as soft. Even despite the volumes of evidence of poor outcomes in full American jails, Harper continues on this path.
Hey Deb,
You may be right about Harper's motivation on this. If so, he's gonna be sorry he ever started down this road. The only Canadians who like the death penalty are a few of his hard core supporters - he's not going to get any new voters with this and he'll lose many "progressive" conservatives that voted for him last time. While it's good that he's showing his true ideology I hope nobody has to die for it.
The upside - no need for attack ads, Harper's doing it to himself.
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