Albertan on death row takes Canadian government to court

An Alberta man on death row inMontana is taking the Canadian government to court over its decision not to intervene in his case.

Lawyers representing Ronald Allen Smith on Tuesday submitted an application to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review of the government's decision.

On Nov. 1, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he wouldn't ask American authorities to hand over Smith, who faceslethal injection for murdering two men in 1982 during a road trip south of the border.

"We will not actively pursue bringing back to Canada murderers who have been tried in a democratic country that supports the rule of law," Day told the House of Commons at the time.

"It would send a wrong message. We want to preserve public safety here in Canada."

Smith's lawyers argue that Day's position is a tacit approval ofSmith's execution.Such approval violates Smith's constitutional rights as a Canadian and his rights under international law, his lawyers say.

Smith is the only Canadianon death row in the U.S.

All three opposition leaders have written to the governor of Montana, asking him to commute Smith's sentence to life imprisonment rather than execution.

Canada abolished capital punishment from the Criminal Code in 1976, after hanging its last two inmates in Toronto on Nov. 11, 1962.