00:00No matter where each of us was 25 years ago, many of our memories for that day began with a
00:07few simple words.
00:08Turn on the TV.
00:11Something has happened.
00:14I remember having that thought, and in that moment I needed to get my kids, who were five, seven, and
00:21nine at that time.
00:23St. John's fell silent in those moments.
00:26The only sound was the plane's overhead, one after another after another.
00:34It was frightening, and I think we sometimes forget how frightening that was.
00:4138 of those planes were turning toward a town with an airport as big as itself, and Gander was not
00:50alone.
00:51St. John's, Stephenville, and Goose Bay took planes that day as well.
00:57While so many of us felt that strong urge to help and to protect our own, that same feeling was
01:04here in Gander, but for people they had never met.
01:09So while the story about what happened next is strangers helping strangers, it's not the full story.
01:18Americans have been our neighbors in this province and country for a long time.
01:24In Argentia, Stephenville, and Goose Bay, where my father worked at the base for so many years as a mechanic.
01:32Americans were the people he proudly worked beside, a story shared by many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.
01:41When those planes landed, we may never have met them, but they were not strangers.
01:48It was people helping people.
01:53Kindness in the face of unimaginable fear and uncertainty.
01:58Despite it all, it was a moment of shared humanity.
02:04In many ways, the most extraordinary thing about Gander's response was how utterly ordinary it was for them.
02:14You hear it time and again.
02:17What else could we have done but help?
02:21I believe there's still a sense of disbelief in it all today.
02:26And it took the rest of the country, the world, and the plain people telling their story,
02:31and maybe even a Broadway musical, before Gander started to believe that they had done something special.
02:39That day changed the world.
02:42But it did not break the people here.
02:45It did not make them cynical or afraid.
02:48It did the opposite.
02:51It shined a light on who they have always been.
02:55People who help and who serve.
02:59On 9-11, Gander showed the world the very best of Canada.
03:06This part of the service is about honor.
03:09So I want to recognize the people who answered that call.
03:14It started when the air traffic controllers in Gander brought those planes down safely, one after another,
03:22with no plan for what came next and no time to make one.
03:28Then it moved to the ground.
03:31Nine wing opened their gates.
03:34The RCMP went from plane to plane.
03:39Firefighters and paramedics stood on the tarmac, not knowing what was on board.
03:45Then it moved to the town.
03:48Nurses and pharmacists filled prescriptions for people whose medications were still in suitcases.
03:55The Salvation Army and the Red Cross set up cots.
03:59In Gamble, Lewisport, Appleton, Glenwood, and beyond, people opened church halls and school gyms.
04:06And then, most remarkably, their own front doors.
04:12And there's so far more stories than I have time to touch on.
04:17But one thing they all share is nobody had to tell them to help.
04:23Everyone stopped everything.
04:25They worked day and night.
04:28And so, on behalf of the Government of Canada, I want to thank you again.
04:34Merci et vous, too.
04:35Twenty-four Canadians died on September 1st, and in the years that followed,
04:42the Canadian Armed Forces Services members deployed to Afghanistan alongside our American neighbors.
04:51150 of them did not come home, including 13 from Newfoundland and Labrador.
04:58And we will never forget them.
05:01The world today is very different.
05:04It's harder, and I won't pretend that it isn't.
05:08Things have changed, but the Canadian values shown in Gander have never wavered.
05:15And today, what we all need more of is what this town had and still has in abundance.
05:23Humanity.
05:24It's hard not to think that if the world had more Elliotts, more Balua, Coopers, more places like Gander,
05:32that things would be a little bit better.
05:35I've heard Mayor Elliot say that 9-11 is not Gander's story.
05:409-12 was, and all the days after that.
05:45Their story is not one of fear or hatred.
05:48It is one of kindness.
05:5125 years ago, the world turned on the TV and saw the worst of humanity.
05:57Then it looked at Gander and saw the best.
06:01So today, we have a duty to honor those kind acts, to honor that humanity, to not let those
06:11open doors, homemade meals, and the compassion be in vain.
06:17Each and every one of us can still learn from it and carry it forward in small, everyday ways
06:26and bigger ones.
06:28In a time like now, it's hard not to think, what if we were all a little bit more like
06:35Gander?
06:37Merci d'avoir.
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