A Canadian town's famous warm welcome doesn't extend to US ambassador on 9/11 anniversary
Gander, Newfoundland, opened its doors to more than 6,000 stranded air travellers on 9/11. Now they wonder if Trump's representative in Canada belongs at their commemoration.
A Canadian town’s famed hospitality does not appear to extend to the US ambassador on the 9/11 anniversary
Thirty-eight civilian flights were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11.
On 9/11, the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, took in thousands of stranded Americans after their flights were rerouted following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
Twenty-five years on, residents of that same Atlantic coast community are far less eager to host the US ambassador to Canada for commemoration events on Friday.
Some are even calling for his invitation to be withdrawn.
The backlash to Ambassador Pete Hoekstra’s planned visit is one clear sign that the US-Canada relationship is at its weakest in decades, and a measure of how many Canadians feel about their neighbour to the south.
It marks a striking shift in public mood from the early 2000s, when Canada was a refuge for Americans in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and when Canadian troops later fought alongside US forces in Afghanistan.
The uproar over Hoekstra’s attendance prompted the town council to issue a statement last week saying that inviting US dignitaries is standard protocol.
"We understand why people feel strongly about this," the town said
"We are proud Canadians, and we understand the frustration and disappointment many Canadians are feeling about the current state of the relationship between Canada and the United States."
It said its priority is honouring the 3,000 people who died in the attacks.
The US and Canada have been locked in a trade war since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Trade talks remain stalled after negotiations broke down in late August, and both sides have imposed retaliatory tariffs.
According to June polling by the Pew Research Centre, fewer than half of Canadians now see the US as a dependable partner, down from 83% in 2022.
Hoekstra had already angered many Canadians, who accuse him of weakening the bilateral relationship through his remarks, including by normalising the Trump administration’s "51st state" rhetoric.
He has said he does not "understand the emotional reaction"
, external from Canadians to President Donald Trump’s 51st state comments, and he made headlines last year after a heated exchange with a Canadian official in Washington.
As of early September, a petition in Canada calling for his expulsion
His office said it was aware of the petition but declined to comment further.
In 2001, Gander received 38 planes at its small airport, along with passengers and crew from 95 countries who were stranded in Canada after the US closed its airspace.
For five days, local people offered free beds, food, medicine and clothing to those grounded during the crisis, with the number of people in need nearly doubling the town’s population.
Gander’s role in sheltering more than 6,000 diverted passengers inspired the Tony Award-winning musical Come From Away
, which tells the story of how the town’s residents famously opened their homes.
The musical became a symbol of Canada-US friendship. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even saw the play on Broadway in 2017, alongside Trump’s daughter Ivanka and former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.
Thousands of other passengers were diverted elsewhere in Canada on 9/11, including to Vancouver’s international airport.
British Columbia Premier David Eby highlighted his province’s role during those tense days on Tuesday while unveiling a new border sign declaring that Canada "will NEVER be the 51st state. Sorry!".
"After all of the president's bad behaviour, after everything that he's done, if Americans ever had to face the same kind of horrors that they did on 11 September, would Canadians step up in the same way?" Premier Eby said.
"You bet your ass we would."
Still, some of the criticism of Hoesktra in Gander has eased in recent days.
Pam Frampton, a Newfoundland columnist, wrote in local newspaper The Telegram on Wednesday
, external that although Hoekstra is a "controversial figure" in Canada, she agreed with the town that the commemoration events are not intended to be political.
"To do anything but welcome the United States' representative in Canada to Gander for the anniversary of 9/11 would have contradicted everything the town has become synonymous with - tolerance, goodness, big-heartedness, unstinting hospitality," Frampton wrote.
In an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC, Gander Mayor Percy Farwell said his town offered "love and compassion" to those who needed it 25 years ago.
"The humanity of what happened here, I think that rises above the political discussions and all the other saber-rattling," he said. "Hopefully this is a bit bigger than all that."