I'd like to respond that the charter as it stands does not define victims' rights. I worked on the Victims Bill of Rights and I'm only asking that my rights be regarded as Mr. Khadr's are regarded. I am not here to take away from Khadr's rights; I'm only suggesting that as a victim, I should have rights too.
Mr. Khadr was a self-confessed terrorist, not in an act in...perhaps the venue was Afghanistan. He was convicted and self-confessed in the U.S. I am a Canadian citizen. He committed his crime—it was not alleged; he was convicted—outside our country. I'm only asking as a Canadian citizen, as he is, that I have rights too and it would appear there is no balance in this as it stands right now.
He belonged to the very organization, al Qaeda, that was complicit in the murder of my husband. You can only imagine how I feel when I see my government give him $10.5 million for a violation of rights and I am at the same time begging my country to afford me rights as a victim and a Canadian citizen who was married to a Canadian who lived in Canada.