September 11th, 2001, the day that the biggest terrorist attacks in history took place, the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City. Even though this act of terrorism took place in the United States, it still had a major effect on Canada and changed a lot about the country and formatted what Canada is today. I will speak of four ways in which 9/11 affected Canada: The accusation that some of the hijackers entered the U.S. through Canada, how 9/11 affected immigration to Canada for Muslims, the way Muslims live in Canada today, and the story of Maher Arar and its relation 9/11.
One of the biggest ways that 9/11 has affected Canada was through an accusation was brought up by a sitting U.S. Senator, Montana representative Conrad Burns[1].The accusation stated that some of the terrorists who hijacked the planes entered the U.S. through Canada. Another high-profile politician that has agreed with and advocated this statement is John McCain, who said, "Well, some of the 9-11 hijackers did come through Canada, as you know," in April 2009 on a Fox News report.[2] However, also in April 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that Canada is a “close ally and an important partner,” and "I know that the September 11th hijackers did not come through Canada to the United States,” in a statement released by U.S. Homeland Security.[3] This finally put an end it seems to this accusation, which was beneficial because a lot of controversy was surrounding this subject. This rumour was started because many people believe that Canadian borders going into the U.S. are, or at least were before 9/11, not very secured, thus making it the easiest way to get into the U.S., which is what terrorists would want to do. Right now, there are about 2,200 border patrol agents posted at the Canada-U.S. border, which is an increase of more than 600% since 9/11.[4] Also, in an effort to improve security, Canadians are now