Justice committee  Well, thank you for the comments. I have been on the other side as well, and I know how hard it is to change. No change happens when it's voluntary. It needs to be mandatory and be part of sentencing programs and of having individuals be accountable to work through and to change

Justice committee  Yes, and thank you for the comments. I appreciate that. I do believe that as far as awareness, our understanding of not only sexual abuse, but abuse, bullying, and harassment has come a long way. As a social issue, these issues have come leaps and bounds from where we were in 19

Justice committee  Thank you all for having me here this morning. My name is Sheldon Kennedy. I'm the co-founder of Respect Group Inc. We're a prevention organization that educates all adults across this country--over 500,000 annually--on abuse, bullying, and harassment. I'm here today to speak in

Public Safety committee  Yes, I agree.

Public Safety committee  Well, aren't the victims supposed to be either forgiving or finding a place within themselves to move on, and not let the perpetrator have that power in their lives any more?

Public Safety committee  I see a difference. I think what had the hair on the back of everybody's necks standing up when they heard that Graham James received a pardon was the word “pardon”. It seems like he was excused for what he had done, with that word, to me. That's my opinion. The way that I unde

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. There's the shame and the guilt. I go back to that reintegration into society for the victim as well. We look at Sharon, and 29 years later she's still trying to find a way, a place that puts her at ease when she wakes up every day. For myself, those are feelings tha

Public Safety committee  Yes. It was a shock. It's something I had never thought about. I was lucky I was far enough along that I didn't look at it with anger, but I looked at it as how we are best going to handle this, and how we are best going to protect our youth and organizations from it happening ag

Public Safety committee  No, I had no idea.

Public Safety committee  No.

Public Safety committee  Graham James had received the pardon. I had found out after he had received it, and it really gave me time to reflect and understand and take a look at the whole pardon system around sex offenders. That's really where my mind is here. We talk about victims, and yes, there are vic

Public Safety committee  I'm all about change. It's my understanding that it would be up to the parole board to use their discretion. We talk about it in here. I've heard lots about criminals trying to reintegrate into society. I can tell you we work with a lot of victims, and they need to reintegrate

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the comments. What I was saying was that I believe that sex offenders against children should not be granted pardons. The reason is that we work with the organizations that allow adults to work in positions of trust with youth across this country and abroad; right

Public Safety committee  I'm a bit of a rookie here. I'm Sheldon Kennedy, co-founder of Respect Group Inc. I'm standing in front of you today not as a victim looking for justice but as a person who understands the commitment needed on a daily basis to continually stay willing to change. My flag was rai