The Town of Gander, N.L., says its invitation to United States Ambassador Pete Hoekstra to attend a 9/11 ceremony this month was protocol, not an endorsement.
Hoekstra is among a list of dignitaries attending the town’s commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
News of his attendance prompted strong reactions online, as well as an article in satirical news site The Beaverton, titled “Come from Away sequel will see Newfoundlanders put the friggin’ boots to Pete Hoekstra.”
“Come From Away” is a hit musical about how the people of Gander fed, clothed and cared for more than 6,500 air passengers who were stranded there for days after the 9/11 attacks.
In a news release Friday, Gander’s town council said the community’s 9/11 story is about people, not politics.
The town said it understands Canadians are frustrated by ongoing tensions with the United States, but it asked residents to look beyond those differences.
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“There are times when we will disagree. There are also times when we have to recognize that something is bigger than those differences,” the news release said. “For Gander, September 11 is one of those times.”
The town council followed appropriate protocols when it invited governments and diplomatic representatives to the ceremony next week, it said.
Hoekstra has caused controversy by criticizing the “elbows up” campaign against U.S. tariffs and by expressing irritation with Canadians’ response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about making the country the 51st state.
Tens of thousands of Canadians have signed a petition asking the federal government to kick Hoekstra out of the country and request his removal as ambassador.
His office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Friday.
Earlier this week, Hoekstra said he was attending “not just on behalf of those who were stranded, but for an entire nation that remains moved by Gander’s generosity.”
“I look forward to meeting many of those who opened their hearts and homes and honouring the enduring bond built that week,” the ambassador said in an emailed statement.
Thirty-eight planes made emergency landings in Gander after the U.S. airspace closed on Sept. 11, 2001. Hijackers had just slammed planes into the World Trade Center in New York, killing nearly 3,000 people.
“We are not asking anyone to change how they feel or what they believe,” said Friday’s release from Gander’s town council.
“We are asking that, for this occasion, the focus remain on the nearly 3,000 lives lost, the people forever affected by September 11, and the humanity that brought people together here 25 years ago.”
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