What has the impact been on Gander over the intervening 25 years?

Well, there's been-- I mean, some things have stayed the same.

Some things have changed, you know, fairly significantly, right? I mean, I think we're, we're, we are a growing community, and part of that is attributable, I think, to the, uh, notoriety or the, you know, the recognition the community, uh, got from, from the reaction and response during those days.

So we're, we're, uh, we continue to be a growing community.

We're a, we're a population of about, I guess, when the census data comes out for this year, we'll be in the range of 13,000, whereas we were 9,000 in, uh, in 2001.

So we've increased maybe 40% or so.

I think the same value system is in place, the same inclination of our people to, to respond the way they did then, uh, now would be, would be there.

Do-- Um, and it's my understanding that some of the people who landed that day and wondered, "Where are we?" um, still come back from time to time.

But more largely, I wonder, you know, as you plan for tomorrow, like, is that factoring in? Is it changing anything from your viewpoint? Is it something that's weighing on people?

Well, it's something that we hope doesn't cloud what our service tomorrow and everybody's remembrance tomorrow is all about.

These issues, the current issue, the current status of the relationship between Canada and the US, certainly at the political and diplomatic level, has been better.

It's a delicate situation.

What we're remembering and what we're reflecting on around the world tomorrow is not politics, it's humanity.

And we're hoping that the presence of the ambassador here tomorrow won't distract from that.

We have had a long standing relationship with our neighbors to the south and with the rest of the world.

We also asked Mayor Farwell about how the current political tensions might factor into how this all unfolds tomorrow.

ambassador and and what happened since then?

Well, we have services like this every year on the anniversary of 9-11 because of our intimate connection to it, obviously.

And we're very specific about what we commemorate and what we reflect on during that time.

And it isn't politics and that sort of thing.

It's politics.

You know, we're remembering those that lost their lives and those that lost loved ones.

And we're also reflecting back on the relationship that, you know, was established by a twist of fate, really, between our community and many people that were directly impacted, many of those Americans.

What kind of reaction did you get and would you consider disinviting him?

Percy, just before we get into the topic I wanted to address, your take on the historic minute and how it's going over in Gander.

It's going over fantastic.

You know, the Historic Canada, of course, have been doing these Heritage Minutes for many years now, and they're history-focused, as people would know, and each one depicts a significant person or event or story in Canadian history, and, you know, these things have become a recognizable part of Canadian culture.

And we're, you know, very pleased that Historica has identified the situation, the events that happened in and around Gander on September 11, 2001, as one of those moments, you know, that'll be immortalized, I guess, right? And so it is...

you know it's a pretty cool thing i'm fun fact the first voice you heard in that was mine oh really i actually had a i actually had a role in that in that film and the uh so uh but yeah it was it was you know the filming of it was very uh very cool i mean there was hundreds of volunteers required as well for the background people and that kind of stuff but uh The important thing is that that moment is seen as being significant enough to be immortalized in that format, and it's pretty cool to be part of it for sure.

How are you going to manage all of this, Percy?

Well, it's undeniable, I guess, the delicacy of the situation currently between Canada and U.S. relations.

But those are with respect to things like trade policy and the political discourse and all the other things that we've all listened to, we've all formed opinions based on, we've all perhaps modified our purchasing and travel patterns as a result of.