Page 6 of 23.easonable... considerinq- iihel culilire." It-she wanted to go out'*ith friends, NI^s. SiniorLssa

-r,&s reDoi-recil-; ;:eqLrired to inlbrm her parents g,ilere she rvas gcine. rvho she .,voril,i l-.e rvith.the phone nur:.lbeis of he:' fi-iencis, anci i..,hat the-,, planned to cic. Si.e recalted that ctisciplinetynicalll, meant a time-or,it or the loss oia uri.,,ilege such as gcing o'.it rviti'r fi"iends. ibllowei b.,'"al..r,ays a Ciscu.ssion." She stated tl:at sire oni.i got in trouble "a litCe bit", a-r'+a.is telt "caleil ibr"b'r- her palents and that "ihev u,anted,vou ti'i learn fi-om yoru mistaites."

At the age of 5. Ms. Simc.rissa reportedlv r,r,ent to live r,vith her maternal grandparentsibr 1 vear. She stated that her gi-andiather had rvorked ibl the school ar-tthority and. becaLtse oiiris conneciions,.*as able to arl-ange to have her start school a veal earlier than the nolm. Shedesclibed helself as a social person rvho err]o.,'eci suminertime in illgeriii, going to the beach ol'attending rveddings, lvhich'ffere comrnonl;l planned for the summer months.

Ms. Simoussa described herself as a "\rery smar-t... energetic... sociable" girl ,,r,ho

enjoi,ed learnlng. Reportedly, her teachers considered her one ol the top 3 students in school.r\fter graduating u'ith a high school diploma in 1993 at the age of 18, N'{s. Silrotissa compietecia 1-year certificate pragram in hair styling then a 2-year technical diploma in compLrters beforegoing on to teach at the college for a coLrpie of years. She recalied that it r,vas difhcLrlt to fincl',vork at that time in Algeria, bLrt she then rvor-ked for a year-and-a-haif in schoolacirninistration.

Relationship history. Ms. Sim<;Lrssa indicated that during her last year of hrgh school,sire had a "ciose friendshi/' rvith a l/oung man lvith rvhom she most often spent time in thecompany ol a gror-rp of their classmates, There r.vas reportedly "no phvsical contact" betrveenthem and the fi iendship ended .,vhen her fhmily moved.

At the age of 22, rvhi-ie attending college, Ms. Simor-rssa recalled meeting another yolrngmzrn, a "captain in the l.{avy" r.vith r.r'horn she talked on the p}rone daily lor aboLrt a lr,eek beforehe r,vas deployed elservhere. N{s. Simoussa \,\ras reportedll, in her early trventies rvhen she metanother man, Milor"rd, u,ith r,vhom she had a "non-pliysical lelationship" ibr almost I year. Shestatecl, "I loved liim.. . he had a-11 tlie qualities a woman r.r,ould iooli for in a man to rnan'y." Sherecalled it was a very dilficult decision to end the relationsh\;, biit she discovered he rvasalready married and he had hoped she u'ould become his second rvilb. Ms. Simoussa admittedtirat liei'sister-s, a maternal alrnt, and a close fi^iend had lurou,n of this relalionsirip, but sire keptit fi'om hel parents. She expiained that thev rvould have been disappointed and she rvoLild havelost "a little of their respect" had tirey fbund out. She expiained, "in Algeria, a man has to aslt torrlarry a lvoman and get permission [fi'om her fat]rer] before he can date her as ]ris fianc6e." Shecited ]rer neer{ to get to know }rirn "before I gave my emotions" as the reason fbr heeping herrelationship fi-om her parents.

In 1999, abottt 2 years after the end of her last lelationship, Ms. Simotrssa reportedlybecame reacqr:ainted rvith her paternal coi-rsin, IVlohamed Fidjel, rvho lived in Canada. Sherecalled being about 21 the first time they met. I-Ier: parents had relused iris reqilest to becorreengaged to their daLrghter so they could date at that tlme. jVIs. SimoLrssa stated that she i,vasaware that he had been twice divorced and had a ciiild fi-om each man'iage, but belier.ed thereasons ire gave for the brealtclorvn of those relationships. She admittedly thought he rvas a"mature guy" rvho hacl "iearned from his past experiences" and he tallied about going to themosqrie. Ms. Simor-rssa stated that slre was not looliing for a devor-rt N{usjim, 'jList a man rvhotakes the basics fi'om the Quran - being good to others, farnily" ancl belie.,.ed iv{r. Fidiel had

fiarc1 Qphatitrsfo, MgQ,g gis t e re[,?qt c {ro fog i t at 5t{ e [iet or/cPa re ntiry Cc orrtn at or

rffione : (l o s) s fu- 1 b 6 fmai[ fl'atrc1@ couue[{ings ofutionscafgary. com