December 01, 2004
Halifax, Nova Scotia

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On the morning of September 11th, 2001, as word spread of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, 224 commercial planes were immediately diverted to 17 airports across this country: to British Columbia and Alberta, to Yukon and the Northwest Territories, to Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec -- but mostly here, to runways across Atlantic Canada. These aircraft carried some 33,000 people. Most of them were Americans -- some heading off on business trips or vacations, others bound for home.

Many were told that they would be setting down in Halifax or in St. John’s, in Moncton or Stephenville, in Goose Bay or in Gander. These were places that many aboard had never heard of. They are now places that few of the passengers will ever forget.

The response was immediate, and it was profoundly Canadian. Innkeepers threw open their doors; rooms were free of charge. Residents stayed up all night to cook for their guests. They went door-to-door to find spare bedding. They put hand-written signs in their windows: “Come in for a shower.”

In St. John’s, Linda Moyles turned her own bed over to Jeannette DeCamp, a U.S. Army specialist from Florida who was eight months pregnant and had spent her first night on a church floor. “Come and go as you like,” she told her. “The door’s never locked.”

Here in Nova Scotia, the families of Leah Cameron and Donna Popowich, neighbours in Lower Sackville, each took in six members of the wedding party of Tracy and Ken Johnson, a British couple who were on their way to Las Vegas to be married. Tracy and Ken were so touched by the gesture, by the hospitality, they decided it just wouldn’t feel right if they didn’t get married here in Halifax. Leah helped plan everything in just eight hours. They were wed at city hall.

In living rooms across Atlantic Canada, in small towns like Gambo, Deer Lake, Lewisporte and Norris Arm, they watched television together, hosts and guests, taking in the horrific details of America’s most grievous day. In dining rooms, they ate together, sharing stories and taking solace in companionship. At inter-faith ceremonies, they prayed together. After one service, Canadians and Americans alike sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Men were moved to tears.

Later, after the planes had departed for home, a Texan who was stranded in Atlantic Canada for several days would write in a letter to a Dallas newspaper: “Those Canadians took us into their arms as family.”

That’s what neighbours do. That’s what friends do. That’s what Americans did so many years ago, in 1917, when a munitions ship caught fire in Halifax harbour and exploded, killing or wounding more than 10,000 people and destroying much of the city. As word spread, Americans across the northeast pitched in to help, to do what they could. To this day, the people of Halifax send a Christmas tree each year to Boston as a gesture of thanks and friendship. It stands each December in Boston Common. This year’s tree, a 46-foot white spruce from Lunenburg, will be lit tomorrow night.

Mr. President, we must always remember that the fruitful partnership between our two nations has been forged from our great national friendship and from the beliefs we have in common as people. We share more than a continent. We share many ideals. We share a desire to protect and promote freedom, democracy and equality. And we are steadfast in our pursuit of greater prosperity for our people, improved quality of life, a North America that is secure, and a world that is safe as it can be.

Like all partnerships, like all friendships, ours thrives best when conducted in a spirit of candour. We speak directly, as true friends should. Our relationship is strong enough and mature enough and it is sophisticated enough that we can be comfortable in expressing our differences as they emerge – be they related to trade or to our policies abroad.

In such matters, we will act in the interests of our citizens. We will convey our views with passion. But we will never lose sight of our abiding friendship, and what that friendship means in a world in which change within the global community is a constant reality.

As new nations rise as economic powers, as new threats to our collective well-being emerge, the partnership between the United States and Canada will become even more important – in economic terms, in terms of our mutual security, in human terms. There will be a greater need to work together co-operatively as two sovereign nations and to strengthen our bond, both at home and abroad.

The terrible events of September 11th have redefined many realities in the world and on our own continent. We are in a war against terrorism, and we are in it together: Americans and Canadians. From this harbour, families and loved ones have watched as Canadian military personnel departed for service in Afghanistan and points overseas.

There have been tests at home, too. There has been enormous pressure on our shared border. We are concerned with domestic security. We must defend this continent, secure its borders, guard its ports -- and Canada is absolutely committed to doing whatever needs to be done.

Despite the change this pressure has brought upon North America, the underlying trust, goodwill and affection between the people of our two countries have never faltered. In fact, they have grown stronger.

Together, we have come to realize that the world is smaller since 9/11. It is more complex, more perilous, more challenging. Almost a century ago, trenches cut through the bucolic countryside of France, scarring terrain that for years would define the front lines of the first great war, terrain on which so many American and Canadian soldiers would fall for the cause of liberty. Those men knew where the enemy was, and who he was. He wore a uniform. He fought to gain territory.

Today, the front lines of the war extend from the nightclubs of Bali to the schoolyards of Russia, through the train stations of Spain, and on into the avenues of Manhattan and the everyday lives of North Americans. This is not a conventional war and the ocean is no longer a buffer. We do not see the enemy. He does not wear a uniform. He seeks only to kill. And thus, we must be steadfast and unrelenting in our vigilance.

Mr. President: When you accepted your party’s nomination this past summer, you proclaimed your belief in “the transformational power of liberty”.

We share that conviction. We believe that liberty must be embedded and nurtured in democratic institutions. We believe that security can only be ensured through freedom of choice, education, individual endeavour and equality of opportunity. That has been the philosophy behind our actions – in Bosnia, in Afghanistan, in Haiti; and, we hope soon, in elections in the Middle East and Iraq.

We believe we can enhance our security through the encouragement of good governance in weak states, in those that have experienced conflict or civil breakdown.

We believe that nations must accept the responsibility to protect their own citizens from ethnic violence and humanitarian catastrophe. If they fail or choose not to do so, the international community has a responsibility to find new and relevant ways to together act decisively and swiftly in times of crisis. For this reason, Canada is pushing for a New Multilateralism, an initiative that will ultimately enable all nations to enjoy greater security in a more peaceful world.

Mr. President, in the immediate aftermath of September 11th, you said: “America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.”

Today, that light still burns brightly. And let me assure you: it does not burn alone. It is sustained by those the world over who believe in freedom, in human rights, and in democracy. It is sustained by the support we provide to those the world over who suffer - whether from the ravages of conflict or, as we are reminded on this World AIDS Day, the blight of disease.

We welcome you to Canada, Mr. President, and to the great city of Halifax. You will address the people of this nation today from a location that occupies a singular place in Canada’s history. This is Pier 21. Over the course of more than 40 years during the 20th century, almost a million immigrants landed here, enriching our national character and helping to forge the spirit of multiculturalism that today helps to define us to the world.

On this same pier during the 1940s, some 500,000 members of the Canadian military boarded ships and departed for Europe, to join the war, to fight for freedom. Some would return to Pier 21 on hospital ships. So many thousands would not return home at all.

This place is one of raw emotion, of jubilation and heartbreak, smiles and tears, of new beginnings and opportunity, of duty, commitment, resolve and loss. Mr. President, this place is Canada. And it is an honour today to share it with the leader of our nation’s great friend.

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the President of the United States of America.