Canadian Terror Victims Attend Press Conference with Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson and Associate Minister of National Defence, Julian Fantino

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This morning C-CAT cofounder Maureen Basnicki joined government ministers at a press conference in Woodbridge Ontario, in anticipation of this evening’s vote in the House of Commons on Bill C-10: the Safe Streets and Communities Act. The omnibus legislation will include the provisions of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act (JVTA), which will allow Canadian terror victims to launch lawsuits against states, organizations and individuals that have sponsored terrorism.

It has now been seven years since C-CAT initiated the campaign for the passage of this type of legislation.  During this time no fewer than 10 such bills have been introduced including two government bills. C-CAT looks forward to the passage of the 11th and final version of this bill when the House of Commons votes this evening.

C-CAT cofounder Maureen Basnicki, who husband was murdered on 9/11: “The Prime Minister is to be lauded for following through on his 2008 and 2011 election platform promises to bring this measure to passage. The government is also to be commended for adopting several key amendments to the JVTA that victims had requested. The passage of the JVTA will add an invaluable tool to Canada’s legal arsenal in the battle against terror sponsorship and financing. By turning victims of terror into victims over terror, the JVTA will transform every victim of terror into a potential liability for those who sponsor terror and, in doing so, takes aim at the core of terrorist intent and method, which seeks to create as many powerless victims as possible as a weapon against society as a whole.”

C-CAT cofounder Danny Eisen who lost his cousin on Flight 11 on 9/11: “The justice we are seeking through the JVTA does not require a single bullet or a theatre of war – just a vote in Parliament and a court of law. We have waited seven long years for that vote — which is scheduled to take place this evening in the House of Commons. A new front against terror sponsorship is about to be opened in Canada.”

For more on C-CAT and the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act: www.c-catcanada.org

For media interviews: 416-788-4777 and info@c-catcanda.org