Robert Latimer gets OK to travel to U.K. for panel talk

Robert Latimer will be allowed to go the United Kingdom to take part in a panel debate on end-of-life issues.

Latimer, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 death of his severely disabled daughter, Tracy, has been granted permission by the National Parole Board to attend the Oct. 18 discussion, which is being organized by the University of Oxford.

The 59-year-old Saskatchewan farmer's case continues to generate debate across Canada about euthanasia and the rights of people with disabilities.

Latimer has always contended that he acted out of compassion when he killed his 12-year-old daughter on his family's farm in the Wilkie, Sask., area on Oct. 24, 1993.

Tracy died of carbon monoxide poisoning after her father put her in a truck that had a hose leading from the exhaust into the cab.

Latimer has contended that Tracy was in severe pain because of complications from cerebral palsy.

After an initial trial that was halted due to jury interference, he was convicted of second-degree murder at the end of his second trial, and in 1998 was sentenced to life with no opportunity for full parole for 10 years. Latimer appealed that sentence, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001.

Latimer was first granted day parole in March 2008 and  full parole in November 2010, but the life sentence means he must be under some form of supervision by the justice system for the rest of his life.

He currently lives in Victoria, but often travels back to a farm in Saskatchewan to be with his family.