My children were slightly startled and mildly embarrassed as their parents were moved to tears, standing before the reflecting pool at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan on a flawlessly sunny day in 2022, trying to explain the magnitude of what occurred in that spot on Sept. 11, 2001.
That sombre moment during an otherwise fun-filled family trip to New York City speaks to the lingering sorrow many Canadians feel recalling the Twin Towers collapsing live on television as the full horror of the terrorist attack on the United States sunk in.
As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 dawns Friday, the emotional toll continues to reverberate. Canadians still mourn the senseless loss of life a quarter-century ago. But we are also now grieving the loss of a friendship we once thought was unshakable.
Most of us can probably pinpoint where we were at 8:46 a.m. on 9/11, when the first hijacked plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Centre. We certainly remember the minutes and hours that followed as that dark day unfolded.
Canadians felt our next-door neighbours’ shock, fear and devastation deeply and rushed to do everything we could to help.
We welcomed shell-shocked travellers disembarking from grounded planes when North American airspace was closed. More than 200 diverted flights carrying 33,000 travellers landed at Canadian airports, many in smaller communities.
The kindness shown by the people of Gander, N.L., population less than 10,000, in feeding and caring for 6,500 stranded visitors later inspired the Broadway musical Come From Away.
Staff at the Hotel Gander bid farewell to some of the people who were grounded in N.L. during 9/11. Handout
We expressed solidarity with Americans in their national grief. We left a mountain of flowers outside the U.S. embassy in Ottawa. Throngs gathered on Parliament Hill for a memorial service. Countless vigils and moments of silence were held across the country.
The carnage caused by 19 al-Qaida fanatics who turned four commercial jets into missiles killed 2,977 people in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, where courageous civilians aboard one of the doomed flights sacrificed their own lives to prevent the terrorists from hitting another target. The dead included innocent passengers, pilots, flight crew members, more than 400 first responders, and workers at the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Twenty-four Canadians died on 9/11.
Canada joined the Global War on Terror to ferret out the masterminds of the attack and combat extremists in Afghanistan. Over the 13 years the mission lasted, 158 Canadian troops were killed in action while scores more were injured. Seven civilians also lost their lives, among them diplomat Glyn Berry and Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang.
Canada hastened to adopt anti-terrorism laws, shore up airport security and tighten our borders in step with the U.S.
Because that’s what you do when your closest trade partner, ally and friend is attacked.
So Canadians are profoundly hurt that the America we once opened our hearts and homes to, then fought, bled and died alongside, has turned on us 25 years later.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, he has taken a wrecking ball to our close relationship.
It started with threats about turning Canada into the 51st state and the denigration of our prime minister as a governor. It turned into a shakedown when Trump blocked the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which Canada paid for, until we forked over some of the proceeds. It has now erupted into a full-blown trade war, with tariffs hurting families and industries on both sides of the border that have no purpose other than to beat Canada into economic submission.
Yet Trump and his flunkies dare blame Prime Minister Mark Carney for the escalating row because we refused to sign a deal that would have dictated who else we can trade with, among other poison pills.
In less than two years, Trump has gone from acting like a name-calling bully who steals our lunch money to a toxic ex trying to exert coercive control, telling us who to date and spamming us with deranged invective in the middle of the night.
He signed a decree to rename Lake Ontario, which Canada and the U.S. share, as pure provocation. If that wasn’t pathetic enough, the pile-on by his spineless sycophants is just as nauseating.
The Tribute in Light will be seen within a 100-kilometre radius of Lower Manhattan from dusk on Sept. 11 to dawn on Sept. 12. Adam Gray / Getty Images
U.S. Trade Secretary Scott Bessent belittled Canada’s military capabilities by comparing our naval fleet with “two submarines from West Edmonton Mall.”
U.S. “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth stooped to mocking our youth cadet program in a crude and juvenile social media post.
These are grown men acting like teenage cretins to suck up to their boss. And they’re just two examples of the goons at Trump’s beck and call.
Canadians have every right to feel offended, betrayed and angry over this mistreatment.
Of course we realize not all Americans want to harm or annex us. We recognize many in the U.S. oppose Trump and are in our corner. We know that many folks south of the border are caught in the crosswinds of this unfortunate trade war.
But we didn’t start it. And we must preserve our dignity, our self-respect and our sovereignty at all costs. It would be nice to see a few more Americans standing up for us as we stand up for ourselves.
More than a century of peaceful coexistence, partnership and having each other’s backs proved their worth 25 years ago. Now the anniversary of 9/11 is a reminder of how much has changed.
The mayor of Gander had to call for calm ahead of U.S. ambassador and Trump mouthpiece Pete Hoekstra’s planned attendance at a 9/11 memorial Friday.
A tearful moment of contemplation at Ground Zero turned out to be the last time I, like many Canadians, set foot on American soil for the foreseeable future.
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I started at The Montreal Gazette in 2000 as an intern. Since then I have covered the National Assembly and courts, worked on the assignment desk and written editorials, before debuting as city columnist in 2017.
ahanes@postmedia.com