Canada’s leader laments lost friendship with U.S. in town that sheltered stranded Americans after 9/11
- Share via
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney lamented his nation’s lost friendship with the United States as he visited the town that sheltered thousands of stranded American airline passengers after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Carney’s visit Monday to Gander, Newfoundland on the second day of a national election campaign comes against the backdrop of a trade war and sovereignty threats from President Trump. The almost daily attacks from Trump on Canada’s sovereignty have left its citizens feeling betrayed.
“In this crisis caused by the U.S. president and those who are enabling him, we lament a friendship lost,” Carney said. “In Gander Canadians did extraordinary things for Americans when they needed it. Now, we need to do extraordinary things for ourselves.”
Gander opened its arms to nearly 6,600 airline passengers diverted there when the U.S. government shut down airspace after Sept. 11, 2001.
In a matter of a few hours, the town population of 10,000 in 2001 was overwhelmed by 38 planeloads of travelers, yet locals went to work in their kitchens and cleaned up spare rooms to offer space and food to the newcomers.
President Trump’s sweeping tariffs threatened to upend free trade in North America and sent shock waves through the global supply chain.
When more than 200 flights were diverted to Canada after the attacks on the United States, the Canadians shunted the traffic away from Toronto and Montreal to the eastern seaboard.
Obscure, little-used Gander got to relive its glory days as a stopover point for transatlantic aviation before long-distance flights became possible. Built in 1938 in anticipation of the coming world war, it had the world’s longest runway, and on 9/11 it took in 38 flights, second only to the 47 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
‘When people needed help, you gave it’
Flight crews quickly filled Gander’s hotels, so passengers were taken to schools, fire stations, church halls. The Canadian military flew in 5,000 cots. Stores donated blankets, coffee machines and barbecue grills. Unable to retrieve their luggage, passengers were dependent on the kindness of strangers, and it came in the shape of clothes, showers, toys, banks of phones to call home free of charge, an arena that became a giant walk-in fridge full of donated food.
Once all the planes had landed or turned back to Europe, Gander’s air traffic controllers switched to cooking meals in the building nonstop for three days.
On Monday, Carney visited the home of Beulah Cooper, who opened her home and comforted many including Dennis and Hannah O’Rourke, an elderly couple whose New York firefighter son, Kevin, went missing at the World Trade Center and was later confirmed to have died there.
Business owners around the state struggle to keep up with an ever-changing slew of trade policies.
The O’Rourkes remained friends with Cooper long after and went back to Gander, saying they felt eternally indebted.
“More than 6,000 passengers. Overnight, the town’s population almost doubled,” Carney said during a speech to residents. “You showed friendship to people who were fearful. In a crisis, you showed your character. When people needed help, you gave it.”
Carney noted the story of that day became legend, immortalized in the Canadian-made Broadway hit musical “Come from Away.”
“It became yet another example of the unbreakable bond between Canadians and Americans. Because when Americans are in need, Canadians have always shown up,” Carney said.
Carney says Canadians have to look out for themselves
He noted Canadians have always been by Americans’ side whether it was during the Iranian hostage crisis, or more recently during the California wildfires or in Afghanistan, where Canada lost 158 members of the armed forces and seven civilians.
Trump has declared a trade war on his northern neighbor and continues to call for Canada to become the 51st state, a position that has infuriated Canadians. The American president has threatened economic coercion in his annexation push and suggested the border is a fictional line.
Trump put 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as all of America’s trading partners — on April 2.
The U.S. president has given a variety of explanations for his antagonism of Canada, saying that his separate 25% tariffs are about fentanyl.
Carney said Canadians are over the shock of the betrayal but now have to look out for themselves. He said Canadians and Americans traditionally have been like brothers.
“But that’s changed. And it wasn’t us who did the changing. Unfortunately, President Trump’s actions have put that kinship under greater strain today than at any point in our storied history,” Carney said.
As they kicked off their election campaigns on Sunday, Carney and his Conservative opponent, Pierre Poilievre, said Trump must respect Canada’s sovereignty. Carney announced a five-week election campaign before the vote on April 28.
Carney still hasn’t had a phone call with Trump, and suggested that might not happen until after the election. “I’m available for a call. But you know we are going to talk on our terms as a sovereign country, not as what he pretends we are,” Carney said.
He said the Americans are making a “fundamental mistake” in the trade war.
“They think they will weaken us. They think that they can own us — quite frankly, that’s what they think,” he said. “We are going to get stronger. We are going to wait this out. They are going to come to the table and we are going to negotiate a good deal for Canadians.”
Gillies writes for the Associated Press.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
