After seven years of reflecting in prison, Robert Latimer "hasn't wavered from his decision" to kill his severely disabled daughter, his lawyer, Jason Gratl, told Canada AM Thursday.

Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer convicted of killing his 12-year-old daughter, Tracy, was granted day parole Wednesday.

Latimer has long maintained his daughter's death was a mercy killing, saying her condition had caused her constant pain and discomfort.

Gratl said that Latimer was "quietly delighted" to be released on parole. The Latimer family is as well.

"I'm just so excited,'' Laura Latimer told The Canadian Press from the family's farm in Wilkie, Sask. "It just means the world, really (to our family).''

"We're just delighted that he's getting day parole, because we don't think he should ever have gotten jail time," Latimer's sister, Pat Latimer, told CTV Newsnet.

The National Parole Board refused to give Latimer day parole in a Dec. 5 hearing, after he again refused to admit any guilt in the killing. But that decision has been overturned by the National Parole Board Appeal Division.

"They concluded that Mr. Latimer doesn't represent a threat to society and he doesn't present a serious risk of re-offending," Gratl said.

Latimer's daughter, Tracy, was born with cerebral palsy. She could neither walk nor talk, and had a mental age of a three-month-old child.

In 1993, she had faced another operation to fix a permanently dislocated hip.

Latimer placed Tracy in the cab of his pickup truck and pumped exhaust fumes into the vehicle, while his wife and other children were attending church in Oct. 1993.

Divisive issue

The Latimer case highlighted the issue of mercy killing, a divisive issue among Canadians. While civil liberty groups have defended Latimer, many disabled rights groups have been critical of the decision to release Latimer.

Ted Kuntz has a 23-year-old disabled son and is the past-president of the Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network. He told Canada AM that he was "disappointed" with the appeal board's decision.

"It's a message about whether it is OK to kill your child because they have a disability," Kuntz said of the decision.

"I don't think it's the right action. Our children are precious and just because they have a disability doesn't mean they can be killed in this way."

He added that many Canadians have "misplaced" their compassion with Latimer and not with Latimer's daughter.

Jim Derksen, of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, said Latimer should never have killed his daughter. He warned that the decision to grant Latimer parole could give the impression that his act was sanctioned by the justice system.

"We agree that Robert Latimer deserves due process; he is eligible for parole and for appealing the denial of his parole," said Derksen. "But we would be concerned if people misunderstand his parole as giving any sanction to the kind of murder he committed on his daughter."

The Appeal Division rejected the Board's December ruling that Latimer presented "an undue risk to society." It also said the Board was unreasonable in depriving him parole because he seemed unapologetic for Tracy's death.

"Your responses at the hearing reveal that you did in fact demonstrate insight and were able to explain why you decided to end the life of your daughter after thirteen years of caring for her," the Appeal Division wrote in its ruling. "Although you needed to be refocused at times, you were not unwilling to answer questions. You did not state that you would not follow the law. Rather, you made it clear that, although you do not agree with the law as it stands with respect to the specific circumstances of your current offence, you would continue to pursue this issue through the appropriate legal channels."

But Latimer's day parole was only granted with two conditions:

He must not have responsibility, or make decision for, any individuals who are severely disabled; and,

Latimer must participate in psychological counselling to address any personal or emotional issues, and "to further develop stress management and coping strategies" to help his reintegration into society.

Latimer began his sentence in 2001 and is currently at British Columbia's minimum-security William Head prison, located near Victoria.

He has applied to be released to an Ottawa half-way house. Gratl said that Latimer will probably apply to be released to Saskatchewan when the media interest dies down.

With files from The Canadian Press