A few months ago the governing Conservatives were criticized when Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day, announced that Canada’s policy of fighting to prevent Canadians abroad from being subject to the death penalty would cease.
Appeals for clemency would be made on a case by case basis and be dependent upon the country that seeks to impose the ultimate penalty for a crime. Day and the Tories refused to intercede in the case of Albertan Ronald Smith who is awaiting execution in Montana. Needless to say the opposition and special interest groups such as Amnesty International were not pleased.
In 1982, Smith, who was travelling in the U.S. with two associates was hitchhiking and was picked up by two young Native Americans.
According to the evidence Smith, armed with a sawed off shotgun, marched the two into the woods and shot them execution style. The killer later told authorities that he did it just to see what killing someone was like. The following year, the Albertan pleaded guilty to murder. He was offered life imprisonment in return for the plea but rejected it; he wanted to be put to death. Smith subsequently had a change of heart and he has been on Montana’s death row for the past 25 years. It was this case that Stockwell Day announced the change in Canadian policy and said that the government would not intervene and seek clemency for the condemned man.
Last week Canadian Mohamed Kohail, 23, was found guilty of murder in Saudi Arabia and sentenced to death by beheading. He and a friend were found guilty after a 19-year-old man was killed in a fight that began with accusations that Kohail’s 17-year-old brother had insulted the victim’s sister. The Canadian government has indicated that it will appeal to the government of Saudi Arabia to save the Montrealer’s life.
Despite the fact that the dispute over Canada’s policy of intervening in selected cases literally involves the lives of two Canadian citizens, the main response by critics has been, “nana nana nah nah”. “We told you so”. Those who oppose the government in the Smith case had warned that the failure to protest executions of Canadians that are carried out in democratic countries would make it more difficult to help Canadians who received a death sentence in places such as Saudi Arabia.
There is a valid argument to be made that Canada should take a consistent position on the death penalty. If Canada is in fact against the death penalty, the government should attempt to convince all other countries not to execute Canadian citizens regardless of how fair their justice system happens to be. If the Conservatives really believe that capital punishment is justified, they should introduce legislation to bring it back in Canada. All Harper would have to do is say that it is a matter of confidence; Steffi and his Liberals would abstain, and the bill would pass. In fairness to the Conservatives, asking any government to be consistent is asking too much.
Notwithstanding the legitimacy of the opponents of Canada’s current policy, there are troubling aspects to the way Amnesty International and others are making their objections. No doubt the critics are right about the government’s policy of selective intervention in death penalty cases is making it harder for the government to prevent the execution of Mohamed Kohail. But the constant barrage of criticism against the government, duly reported by the media, will also make it much more difficult to save Kohail’s life. But that doesn’t seem to matter. Making the Conservatives look bad is much more important to the opposition parties and the alleged do-gooders than saving Kohail’s life is. There is no surprise here; like the government it’s all political and Kohail’s life is no more important to them than Smith’s life is to the government of Canada.
What is even more disturbing is the moral equivalence that is so in vogue now where every country, every culture and every set of laws is equal. Unlike Smith, it is impossible to believe that Kohail had a fair trial. Even though Kohail may be guilty of something and perhaps even guilty of murder, it is hard to believe that he committed the type of murder that would call for the maximum punishment that in the United States would be the death penalty. If the West is to ever to be doomed at some point it will be because of stretching the notion that all people are equal to all cultures and all countries are equal.
If the critics were really concerned about the life of Mohamed Kohail, they would keep their mouths shut until such time as there are no Canadians facing the death penalty in barbaric countries such as Saudi Arabia. But the reality is that saving Kohail’s life pales in comparison to making Stephen Harper look bad.
