Stephen Harper honours 9/11 victims at Commonwealth memorial

SHELDON ALBERTS
Postmedia News

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sunday said the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was a chance to remember terror victims who died in “an act of heartlessness beyond words,” but it must also remind Canadians of the need to remain vigilant against the threat of terrorism.

In New York for 9/11, Harper joined family members of 24 Canadian victims at the rededication of the British Garden, a small park in Lower Manhattan’s financial district.

The park, in Hanover Square, had been dedicated to 67 British citizens who died in the attacks. But it will now be renamed the Queen Elizabeth II Garden and recognize all Commonwealth residents who lost their lives.

“In the shadow of the evil of September 11, 2001, we must not forget our capacity for goodness, and our knowledge of what is right, which is written in the hearts of all men,” Harper said.

“Yes, on September 11, 2001, lives were taken, in an act of heartlessness beyond words. But in response, lives were given — freely, nobly, in acts of courage beyond compare.”

Harper paid tribute to the 157 Canadians soldiers who have died in Afghanistan since 2001, saying they have “helped ensure that that country is no longer a safe haven for those who plot to kill the innocent half a world away.”

Tiny Hanover Park is a small triangle of green space amid the looming towers of Wall Street, near the southern tip of Manhattan. Harper said it was “fitting” the British Garden, which first opened in 2008, will now also recognize fellow Commonwealth residents.

“In the global conflicts of the past century, our countries have been champions of freedom together. On September 11, 2001, together we were attacked by the enemies of freedom,” he said.

“Their primary targets that day were our American cousins. But as we have seen in London, Bali, Madrid, Mumbai and, let us not forget, Toronto, where the plotters were thwarted we are, all of us, in their sights.”

The 10th anniversary should not just be a chance to remember but to “resolve that no more dates on the calendar should become a symbol of the wounding of a nation,” he added.

“We must remain vigilant — to protect all those they left behind, to thwart all those who would do them harm.”