Calling it a gesture "in the name of justice and simple humanity," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion wrote a letter on Thursday to the governor of Montana, seeking clemency for a Canadian citizen on death row there.

Dion raised the subject of Ronald Allen Smith in the House of Commons during Question Period on Thursday, saying Smith — convicted of two 1982 murders — should have his death sentence commuted because he is a Canadian citizen.

"Canadians are against the death penalty," Dion said in the House, challenging the Conservative party to intervene in Smith's case and uphold Canada's reputation on the world stage as a progressive nation.

"The government must oppose the death penalty wherever it is practised — no half-measures," Dion demanded in French.

He challenged the Conservative government to follow his lead and also send a letter asking Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer to commute Smith's death sentence.

In reports earlier this week, the Council of Europe, a group of countries focused on human rights, blasted Canada, accusing it of reneging on its longstanding opposition to the death penalty.

The group's secretary general, Terry Davis, accused the Canadian government of "washing its hands" of Canadians facing the death penalty abroad.

'Disgraceful'

Davis's remarks were in response to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement this month that Canada would no longer seek clemency for Canadians sentenced to death in democratic countries where the individual will receive a fair trial.

Harper also said Canada would no longer co-sponsor a UN resolution opposing the use of the death penalty around the world.

The announcement marked a reversal in a longstanding foreign policy and a move Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae called "disgraceful."

NDP Leader Jack Layton and the Bloc Québécois also voiced their concerns, with the Bloc suggesting that the new policy could be a prelude to reintroducing the death penalty in Canada, which officially scotched the death penalty in 1976. The Conservatives denied that was the case.

In the House of Commons Thursday, Dion repeatedly asked the Conservative party to officially oppose the use of the death penalty against Canadian citizens.

On death row for more than 20 years

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson fired back that Dion was a "newcomer" to justice issues and seemed not to hold any interest when the government proposed a number of anti-crime bills that never became law.

"When there was a bill to better protect 14- and 15-year-olds from sexual predators, that bill died down on the Senate. I wish he could have written to his friends down there and got us some help on that one," Nicholson said.

"We've indicated that individuals who commit multiple murders or mass murders abroad in a democratic country that adheres to the rule of law cannot necessarily count on the Canadian government to claim clemency and patriation back to this country," he said.

Smith, who hails from Alberta, has been on death row for more than 20 years. He faces lethal injection for murdering two men in 1982 during a road trip in the United States. He is the only Canadian on death row in the U.S.

With files from the Canadian Press