We lost 24 Canadians in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Remarkably, 16 of them worked in the financial services industry. Aon Corp. and Cantor Fitzgerald both lost multiple Canadian employees.
Everyone has their own story of the day. James Langton was working on an Investment Executive assignment when he caught sight of CNBC’s coverage. Michelle Schriver was at home with her two young children, maintaining their routine no matter how the news weighed on her.
Alisha Hiyate was a University of Toronto student at the time, without a television in her shared apartment. It wasn’t until her arrival at Sidney Smith Hall that she learned what had happened. “It was better to see it with other people,” she told me.
Grant McIntyre was a senior editor at Investment Executive then, just a couple of years into what would be a two-decade run here. It was early days for the paper’s website, so our coverage came primarily in the October 2001 edition. The cover featured a photo shot outside The Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto, which held a memorial for victims.
“I remember writing the cutline for that,” McIntyre said. “I thought that was a pretty good way of finding a local angle to the story.”
I was in Calgary to speak to an audience of pension plan sponsors about the most important stories of 2001. The talk was cancelled, mercifully, as the city’s oil and gas companies were the first to send employees home.
I’d flown out the night before for two reasons. The other was the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s annual conference, scheduled to begin in Calgary on the 11th. I was there to cover it for Benefits Canada, a trade magazine that serves benefit and pension plan managers.
Many of my friends and colleagues were en route when the planes were hijacked. They were grounded at various points between home and Calgary International, with no clear way back.
It was a couple of days before I could get a red-eye home. I’ll never forget wandering through the airport — the twin towers on every screen and a kind of heavy quiet everywhere. They tried to board my flight in the customary way, by row. But it was hopeless. Travellers swarmed the ticket counter as soon as they announced boarding.
There was one particularly surreal moment in the midst of it all. Midday on the 11th, I got onto a full elevator at the Fairmont Palliser, where I was staying. Standing in the back, in a hotel-issued robe, was Anne Murray.
I have no evidence that the woman who made snowbirds famous had just come from the spa. She did appear more relaxed than I was, though.
One block north
That awful day made many of us feel closer to Americans. Having grown up one block north, sharing so much of their news, sports and entertainment, it felt personal — like our home away from home was under attack.
A quarter-century later, the relationship between our two nations is strained. Today, let’s focus on the tough times our countries have shared, and how they’ve brought us closer.
Remember the extraordinary efforts of Newfoundlanders who welcomed some 7,000 travellers whose flights were diverted to Gander. Remember the Brampton, Ont., firefighters who hopped in the car and drove to Ground Zero so they could help. And remember our 24 fellow Canadians lost that day.
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On a separate note, the Canadian Advisor.cast kicked off season four this week, with a spirited discussion on the role insurance ought to play in financial planning. My guests are Jeff Cait, an Investment Executive columnist and independent life insurance consultant and Jason Watt, co-host of the excellent Financial BS Podcast.
Canadian Advisor.cast is available in both video and audio formats, via Advisor.ca, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
