{"id":1044724,"date":"2026-09-05T10:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T10:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1044724\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T10:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T10:20:19","slug":"town-of-gander-urges-calm-as-pete-hoekstras-planned-visit-for-9-11-anniversary-angers-locals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1044724\/","title":{"rendered":"Town of Gander urges calm as Pete Hoekstra\u2019s planned visit for 9\/11 anniversary angers locals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said he is returning to Gander on the 9\/11 anniversary to say thank you and to honour the town’s enduring bond with his country.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

A week before U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is set to give remarks in Gander to mark the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks, the Newfoundland town that became famous for its kindness on that day addressed growing community anger about his attendance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand why people feel strongly about this,\u201d said a statement from the town released Friday afternoon. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the terrorist attacks were unfolding on Sept. 11, 2001, 38 planes carrying thousands of passengers were diverted to Gander. The town famously stepped up, with locals opening up their homes, setting up shelters and providing meals and medication to the stranded passengers, many of whom were American. They formed lifelong bonds and connections that are emotionally depicted in the immensely popular Broadway musical Come From Away. Gander\u2019s kindness, a symbol of co-operation between the Canada and the U.S., has also been immortalized in a new Heritage Minute<\/a>, released this week. <\/p>\n

But anti-American tension has ratcheted up in recent weeks with U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s trade war with Canada, his order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America and the slew of trolling memes coming out of the White House. This week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on social media a screenshot of <\/b>a young Canadian cadet and her instructor at the end of summer training camp, mocking them with the words \u201cthis is real,\u201d raising the ire of people across the country.<\/p>\n

Hegseth\u2019s post belittling Canadian cadet program draws condemnation from across political spectrum<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Hoekstra himself has faced fierce backlash for months, after saying earlier in the year that annexing Canada as the 51st state would be a great topic of discussion for Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mr. Trump. A House of Commons petition<\/a> signed by more than 260,000 Canadians calling for his removal remains active. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hoekstra\u2019s office <\/b>did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

Earlier this week Mr. Hoekstra said in a statement that he is returning to Gander on the 9\/11 anniversary to say thank you and to honour the enduring bond. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hoekstra is hosting a breakfast for volunteers and attending a commemoration service in Gander where he\u2019s speaking on friendship and connection. <\/p>\n

U.S. businesses think looming countertariffs will inflict pain, but not misery<\/a><\/p>\n

Plans for his attendance have triggered controversy and emotion in the community and on social media, said Mayor Percy Farwell in an interview with The Globe and Mail prior to the town\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a certain delicacy to the timing this year,\u201d he said, referring to Mr. Trump\u2019s trade war. \u201cThis story does transcend that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdministrations come and go and ambassadors come and go but at the end of the day we have a lasting relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town explained in its statement that it followed the appropriate protocol when planning the commemoration by extending invitations to government and diplomatic representatives, adding that this doesn\u2019t mean the town endorses \u201cany individual, their comments or their political views.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilroy\u2019s classic back-to-school notebook features flawed map of Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

In his interview, Mr. Farwell asked that the focus of the commemoration be about people, the close to 3,000 people who lost their lives on 9\/11 and the acts of humanity in Gander, not politics. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the popular national satire publication The Beaverton had already re-written the script with a post titled \u201cCome from Away sequel will see Newfoundlanders put the friggin\u2019 boots to Pete Hoekstra.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said he is returning to Gander on the 9\/11…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1044725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":["post-1044724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1044725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}