Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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Prime Minister Harper honours 9/11 victims and restates Canada's commitment to fighting terror

September 11, 2006
Ottawa, Ontario

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Good evening.

Today is the 5th anniversary of the terrible events of September 11, 2001.

I am speaking to you from the Hall of Honour in the Centre Block of Parliament.

With me are some Canadians whose lives have been touched by 9/11 in ways that most of us can’t even begin to imagine.

Men and women who lost loved ones in the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Tanja Tomasevic, who lost her husband, Vladimir;

Danny Eisen who lost his cousin, Danny; and

Maureen and Erica Basnicki, who lost their husband and father, Ken.

I asked them to join me because words alone are not enough to express what needs to be said today.

As we pay tribute to the 24 Canadians who lost their lives on that infamous day five years ago, their family members remind us that they were real people with real lives.

Lives that were cut short – deliberately so – by a murderous act of terrorism.

Like most Canadians, I have a vivid memory of that morning.

As my wife, Laureen, and I watched the second tower collapse on television, - as the enormity of the events began to sink in, - I turned to her and said: “This will change the course of history.”

And so it has.

In the years that followed, terror struck:

Bali in Indonesia

Madrid in Spain

London in Great-Britain

And security forces in many countries - including Canada – have foiled alleged terrorist plots before they could be executed.

The targets and tactics were different in every case, but the objective is always the same.

To kill, maim and terrify as many people as possible.

Not in the name of any idealistic cause, but because of an ideology of hatred.

And while this war of terror has displayed some of the worst of which humanity is capable.

So too has it revealed the greatness and generosity that lie at the core of so many ordinary people.

Something which was on display for all to see when Canadians opened their arms and homes to thousands of travellers whose flights were diverted on 9/11.

And because of this war of terror, people around the world have come together to offer a better vision of the future for all humanity.

For this vision to take hold, the menace of terror must be confronted.

And that is why the countries of the United Nations …

With unprecedented unity and determination launched their mission to Afghanistan …

To deal with the source of the 9/11 terror and to end, once and for all, the brutal regime that horribly mistreated its own people while coddling terrorists.

And that is why i invited the families of some of the Canadian soldiers who are currently serving in Afghanistan to join us here today.

I want to thank:
Raquel Hounsell;
Janice Shaw;
and Jane Hill…for being here.

Their husbands are currently serving in Afghanistan.

and Captain Edward and Judy Kosierb, whose son is serving in Afghanistan.

Their presence here reminds us that real people – Canadian men and women with families and children – are courageously putting themselves forward to make that part of the world a better place.

It is the desire to make a better and safer world which compels our soldiers to put their lives on the line.

There are Canadian heroes being made every day in the desert and the mountains of southern Afghanistan.

These are the stories we don’t hear – the countless acts of courage and sacrifice that occur every day on the battlefield.

And in the towns and villages where Canadians are reconstructing the basic infrastructure of a shattered nation.

because of their efforts, the Taliban is on the run, not the charge.

Women now have basic rights as human beings.

Youngsters are getting a chance to go to school.

And many – but not yet all Afghan families – are beginning to rebuild their lives with our help.

Because we are a country that has always accepted its responsibilities in the world

from two great wars in Europe,

from Korea to the Balkans

Canada has acted when the United Nations has asked .

And as the events of September 11 so clearly illustrate, the horrors of the world will not go away if we turn a blind eye to them, no matter how far off they may be.

And these horrors cannot be stopped unless some among us are willing to accept enormous sacrifice and risk to themselves.

I would ask that, tonight, you keep in your thoughts and prayers the victims and families of 9-11 and all those ordinary people who have died or lost loved ones in related acts of terror.

I would ask as well, that you keep in your thoughts and prayers the personnel and families of the extraordinary people in Afghanistan and elsewhere who have put themselves on the line so that the world is a better and safer place for all of us.

Good night.

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The Prime Minister’s Office - Communications
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