Canada & Capital Punishment For Citizens Abroad

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In 1983 Ronald Smith, a native of Alberta in Canada, was sentenced to death on charges of kidnapping and murder of two Native Americans. Smith took the two cousins into an isolated area and shot them both in the head. He has been on death row in Montana since this time. The federal Conservative government in Canada has recently sent a letter to the Montana Parole Board requesting clemency for Mr. Smith. However, critics of the current government are denouncing this letter stating that it was a half-hearted attempt to save Mr. Smith's life and gives credence to the argument that the Conservative Party of Canada obscurely supports capital punishment. According to the critics, the Foreign Affairs Minister in charge of drafting the letter even went so far as to admit that they have been ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada to once again initiate clemency proceedings in Mr. Smith's case. Consequently, the Montana Parole Board has probably gotten the hint that the government is not attempting intervention in Mr. Smith's case of their own accord. The concept of capital punishment has been a major area of contention around the world for years with critics condemning the process as being "cruel and unusual" and runs the risk of putting innocent people to death. Mr. Smith admitted to committing his crimes and even asked for the death penalty at sentencing (although later he retracted his request). In Mr. Smith's case, should the government of Canada be required to initiate clemency proceedings despite any ideological platforms that include the support of capital punishment? Should the government in power have the authority to pick and choose what cases involving prisoners on death row abroad that they intervene in?