Ottawa's federal government is where September 11 became more than just an anniversary for Canadians. Under the Harper government, on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, Ottawa designated the day Canada's "National Day of Service", a distinction that exists because Maureen Basnicki, a Canadian widow of the attacks, pushed to make it happen.
A husband's last call
Maureen's husband, Ken Basnicki, was 48 years old and working on the 106th floor of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. Before the tower fell, he called his mother. "Mom, something horrible has happened," he told her. "The room is full of smoke, the roof is blocked and I don't know how I'm going to get out. I'm on the 106th floor of the World Trade Centre." He did not make it out. Maureen, a flight attendant at the time, became one of the Canadians whose lives were permanently altered by that morning.
Turning grief into a federal designation
"I was successfully able to get, under the Harper Government on the tenth anniversary, September 11th to be designated 'National Day of Service,'" she said. The designation gave Canada an official, government-recognized way to observe the day, distinct from the memorial services and moments of silence held elsewhere.
Service over sorrow
Maureen has been clear that she does not want September 11 to be defined by fear or hatred. "I like to think we can celebrate our values that day instead of dwelling on the hate and horror," she said. She argues the day still hasn't found its full shape in the national consciousness. "We have yet to define the day," she said. "There's no physical memorial but let's have a living one." That idea, a living memorial built from action rather than stone, is the core of what she's been pushing Ottawa and the rest of the country to embrace since the tenth anniversary.
What she's asking Canadians to do
Instead of a moment of silence, Maureen is urging Canadians to spend September 11 doing something for someone else. Her suggestions are simple and specific: buy a police officer or firefighter a cup of coffee "to show your gratitude," take part in the Terry Fox Run, or donate blood. None of it requires a ceremony or a government program, just a personal act on a day that already carries federal recognition thanks to her advocacy.
Whether Canadians fill that framework with coffee for first responders, a run in Terry Fox's name, or a pint of blood is, in her view, exactly the point: the day belongs to what people choose to do with it, not just what happened on it.
Sources: Global News
