A Canadian town's famous warm welcome doesn't extend to US ambassador on 9/11 anniversary

On 9/11, the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, welcomed thousands of stranded Americans whose flights were redirected after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.

Twenty-five years later, residents of that very same Atlantic coast community are less enthusiastic about hosting the US ambassador to Canada for commemoration ceremonies on Friday.

Some are even demanding that his invite be rescinded.

The backlash against Ambassador Pete Hoekstra's visit is one tell-tale sign that the US-Canada relationship is at its lowest point in decades, and a barometer of how many Canadians are feeling about their neighbour to the south.

It is a dramatic reversal in public sentiment from the turn of the century, when Canada served as a safe haven for Americans in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and when Canadian soldiers later fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan.

The furor around Hoekstra's attendance led the town council to release a statement last week explaining that inviting US dignitaries is appropriate protocol.

"We understand why people feel strongly about this," the town said.

"We 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."

It added that its focus is on honouring the 3,000 people who died in the attacks.

The US and Canada have been entangled in a trade war since Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Trade negotiations remain on ice after talks collapsed in late August, and each side has imposed tit-for-tat tariffs.

Fewer than half of Canadians now view the US as a reliable partner, versus 83% who felt that way in 2022, according to June polling by the Pew Research Centre.

Hoekstra had already drawn the ire of many Canadians, who accuse him of undermining the bilateral relationship with his statements, including normalising the Trump administration's "51st state" rhetoric.

He has admitted that he doesn't "understand the emotional reaction" from Canadians to President Donald Trump's 51st state remarks, and made headlines last year for a combative exchange with a Canadian official in Washington.

As of early September, a petition in Canada calling for his expulsion had nearly 270,000 signatures. His office has said they are aware of the petition but have declined further comment.

In 2001, Gander welcomed 38 planes at its small airport, along with passengers and crew from 95 countries stranded in Canada after the US closed its airspace.

• Listen: The generosity of Gander

For five days, local residents provided free beds, food, medicine and clothing for those grounded during the crisis, with people in need almost doubling the small town's population.

Gander's role in hosting more than 6,000 diverted passengers became the basis for the Tony Award-winning musical Come From Away, which tells the story of how the town's residents famously opened their doors.

The musical became a symbol of the friendship between Canada and the US. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even attended the play on Broadway in 2017, along with Trump's daughter Ivanka and former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.

Thousands of other passengers were diverted to other parts of Canada on 9/11, including Vancouver's international airport.

British Columbia Premier David Eby evoked his province's contributions during those fraught times on Tuesday while unveiling a new border sign vowing Canada "will NEVER be the 51st state. Sorry!".

"After all of the president's bad behaviour, after everything that he's done, if Americans ever had to face the same kind of horrors that they did on 11 September, would Canadians step up in the same way?" Premier Eby said.

"You bet your ass we would."

Still, some backlash against Hoesktra in Gander has softened in recent days.

Pam Frampton, a columnist from Newfoundland, wrote in local newspaper The Telegram on Wednesday that, while Hoekstra is a "controversial figure" in Canada, she agreed with the town that its commemoration events are not meant to be political.

"To do anything but welcome the United States' representative in Canada to Gander for the anniversary of 9/11 would have contradicted everything the town has become synonymous with - tolerance, goodness, big-heartedness, unstinting hospitality," Frampton wrote.

In an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC, Gander Mayor Percy Farwell said his town offered "love and compassion" to those who needed it 25 years ago.

"The humanity of what happened here, I think that rises above the political discussions and all the other saber-rattling," he said. "Hopefully this is a bit bigger than all that."