DEER LODGE, Mon. — Lawyers for convicted double killer Ronald Smith are accusing the Canadian government of reneging on an offer to speak on his behalf at a hearing in Montana to determine whether he will get the death penalty or clemency.
The Harper government gave only tepid support to Smith’s plea for clemency with its initial response last year and made it clear there would be no one making a presentation at the hearing in Montana this week.
But Smith’s lawyers were excited on Monday when they received news that Marie-Eve Lamy, a consul at the Canadian Consulate General in Denver, was going to read a statement on behalf of the Harper government.
Lamy attended Smith’s clemency hearing Wednesday morning and was added as a last-minute witness for Smith’s defence team.
But in the afternoon, Lamy was gone, which prompted lawyer Don Vernay to read the copy he had of her statement into the official court record.
“We were really somewhat surprised and she said the Government of Canada wants me to read this,” he said, holding a copy of her statement.
“Then this morning she comes up and says, ’I just heard from headquarters that they don’t want me to read this.’ They want her to read the original one instead. She said to me, ’This is what they want and what do you want?’ I said nothing. I said, ’Thank you very much,’ and let her go her way.”
The office of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird did not offer an explanation for the apparent change of heart.
“The Government of Canada’s only comment is minister Baird’s December 2011 letter to the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole,” Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Karen Foss said in an email.
That original letter, signed by Baird last December, was short and to the point.
“The Government of Canada does not sympathize with violent crime and this letter should not be construed as reflecting a judgment on Mr. Smith’s conduct,” it read.
“The Government of Canada ... requests that you grant clemency to Mr. Smith on humanitarian grounds.”
Greg Jackson, Smith’s lawyer for 25 years, didn’t mince words about what he called an unexplainable change once again in the Canadian government’s position.
“It’s been treachery. It’s almost Shakespearean in nature ...They still supported clemency but they withdrew their enthusiastic support,” he said.
“It’s incomprehensible. It’s been devastating to the family. It’s been devastating to Ron particularly when they’re going around the world now where they’re enthusiastically throwing support to other Canadians facing death in other countries.”
The letter read in court said Lamy was providing testimony at the hearing on behalf of the Canadian government.
The statement, although not a glowing endorsement, was considerably more enthusiastic than the original letter.
“Mr. Smith has served 29 years in prison for his crime and he has expressed remorse for his actions. The Government of Canada is seeking clemency for Mr. Smith on humanitarian grounds.”
Jackson said Smith had enjoyed good support from Canada until Harper’s Conservative government was elected. .