The widow of a Canadian soldier, who died when a weapon discharged during a routine patrol in Afghanistan last year, is upset that her husband's friend and fellow comrade has been charged in his death.

"I've been irate at the fact that they've even considered manslaughter as one of the charges," Julie Mason told CBC News on Tuesday.

Mason's husband, Master Cpl. Jeffrey Scott Walsh, died in Kandahar on Aug. 9.

It has been reported that he was seated beside the driver of a G-wagon when another soldier's gun discharged from inside the jeep, killing Walsh with a single bullet.

On Monday, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service charged Walsh's friend and comrade Master Cpl. Robbie Fraser, based in Shilo with 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment, with one count of manslaughter and one count of negligent performance of duty.

Mason said she doesn't agree with the charges.

"I hope we can change this," she said.

"It's painful enough when a soldier loses a brother," she said. "It's even harder when you lose a friend and it's your weapon that went off."

Mason said she met with Fraser on Monday. She said she let him know "it's not his fault" and she told him she's there to help him as much as she can.

Earlier this month, another Canadian soldier died in a shooting in his tent on the base in Kandahar. The military has said little about Cpl. Kevin Megeney's death, other than that it did not involve enemy fire.