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9/11 And Its Effects On Canadian Society
CHC 2D1-04
November 8, 2020
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Some events in history have made a significant impact on life as it is known today and
others do not have the same effect. It is only time that determines how an incident shapes society.
One important historical event in modern times is that of 9/11. The events of that day are
responsible for changing Canadian society in a negative manner. In order to understand these
effects, one must examine how travelling has changed, how Canadians have become more
fearful, and the economic impacts of international trade with the United States.
Firstly, the way that Canadians and Americans travel from one country to the next used to
be rather simple and informal. People would cross regularly to go on a weekend shopping trip,
visit family or simply enjoy a meal internationally. To cross, Canadian citizens would show their
birth certificate as their identification and in some cases “Customs might have waved you
through without even checking for I-D. People bragged about how friendly it all was.”1 Today, it
is unimaginable that people could cross an international border without a passport. The security
has become much more intense as “Nowadays, homeland security can stop drivers even when
they’re not crossing the border.”2 The US border control takes security very seriously as
“Homeland security officers have also started checking passports on buses travelling in New
York, and other states – anything within 100 miles of the border is fair game.” 3. From 9/11 till
May 31, 2009, a valid driver’s licence must be shown to cross the border along with more
questions than pre 9/11. However, the CBC mentions on June 1, 2009, “Border guards began
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2011 — by Julie Grant (Reporter and Producer) Sep 09, "U.S.-Canadian Border Changes since 9/11," NCPR,
September 09, 2011, |PAGE|, accessed November 09, 2020,
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/18372/20110909/u-s-canadian-border-changes-since-9-11)
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2011 — by Julie Grant (Reporter and Producer) Sep 09, "U.S.-Canadian Border Changes since 9/11," NCPR,
September 09, 2011, |PAGE|, accessed November 09, 2020,
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/18372/20110909/u-s-canadian-border-changes-since-9-11)
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2011 — by Julie Grant (Reporter and Producer) Sep 09, "U.S.-Canadian Border Changes since 9/11," NCPR,
September 09, 2011, |PAGE|, accessed November 09, 2020,
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/18372/20110909/u-s-canadian-border-changes-since-9-11)
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requesting passports as Canadians crossed into the United States on Monday as the Western
Hemisphere Travel Initiative officially took effect just after midnight. ‘For a traveller what that
means is we can no longer take an oral declaration. We can no longer take a driver's licence for
identification,’ said U.S. chief customs and border protection officer Tom Schreiber.”(NCPR)
This demonstrates the importance of this event as it is highly unlikely that these two countries
will ever go back to simply showing a birth certificate to enter the opposite country.
Secondly, Canada has always been viewed as a friendly, multicultural country, and
accepting of others. However, there has been a significant change amongst Canadians since 9/11.
“Over half of Canadians surveyed in an Ipsos Reid poll for Postmedia News and Global TV said
that Muslims are discriminated against more now than they were 10 years ago. However,
Canadian Muslim groups say the impact of 9/11 was good and bad on the Muslim community.” 4
Although it can be said that Muslims experience a better sense of community since 9/11, there
has also been an increase in discrimination towards people of the Muslim faith. Some statistic
from this survey shows that “ 74 percent of Canadians agree that ‘our society has become less
tolerant of others since the 9/11 terrorist attacks’, 60 percent think that Muslims in Canada are
discriminated against more than before the attacks and 59 percent say the 9/11 attacks have given
them a negative impression of certain ethnicities and religious faiths.”5 The fact that people have
changed so much due to one incident is so incredible considering how much propaganda is often
used to make people dislike another group (World War II and Hitler’s propaganda with the Jews).
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Amy Chung, "Canadians Less Tolerant after 9/11: Poll," Www.canada.com, |PAGE|, accessed November 09, 2020,
http://www.canada.com/news/canadians less tolerant after poll/5366720/story.html)
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Amy Chung, "Canadians Less Tolerant after 9/11: Poll," Www.canada.com, |1|, accessed November 09, 2020,
http://www.canada.com/news/canadians less tolerant after poll/5366720/story.html)
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Thirdly, the unfortunate event of 9/11 really put into perspective how important the
Canadian-US trade is to both economies. At about $2 billion dollars a day, the
Canadian-American trade is crucial to the economy. To have all of that suddenly stop for even a
few days is detrimental to the economy. Also, the added costs associated with security causes
prices to rise. Increases in security-related costs, therefore, drive a wedge between domestic
prices of goods imported from NAFTA neighbours and the costs of production of those goods in
the exporting country. This wedge acts like a tax or a tariff and has the same trade-discouraging
effect as imposing a monetary penalty on trade.” 6 As costs rise, companies have to increase their
prices to keep their profits, which causes consumers to pay more. There are some companies
who chose to buy their products elsewhere to keep costs low, which means less trade between
Canada and the United States. The increased security is not only seen at the border but also in
military spending starting in 2002. “Finance Minister John Manley is expected to increase
Canada’s military spending by $2 billion in his February budget.”7 So this event not only
increases consumer and company costs but also expands government spending on security.
Furthermore, it takes a longer time to cross the border, which also costs more money. The
increased wait times are seen immediately as traffic is backed up for 36 km from the border,
meaning that instead of taking 15 min to cross into the United States it now takes several hours.
Even today, the wait time at the border is considerably longer due to increased security questions
and mandatory passports. The longer it takes to receive a product, the more expensive it is to
make because companies still must pay their employees to work. If something should arrive in 3
6
"9/11 and Canada," The Canadian Encyclopedia, |1|, accessed November 09, 2020,
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canada-and-911)
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CBCnews, |1|, accessed November 08, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/canadaus/omalley1.html)
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days and takes 8 days, the workers are still being paid for those extra hours, even if they are
simply waiting. The costs are seen over time, For total U.S. exports to Canada, there are
significant declines in trade volumes in at least the second half of 2001 and in 2002. There are
smaller effects in 2003. For total U.S. imports from Canada, significant negative effects are
found in the 4th quarter of 2001 and in 2002, 2003, 2004,...” 8The fact that it took over 3 years
for the economy to return to its previous levels clearly shows the significance of this event.
In conclusion, the events on 9/11 and the aftermath are significant in Canadian history.
Since Canada is so closely connected to the United States, the terrorist attacks negatively
affected Canada as well, as one can see in terms of travelling across the border, the levels of fear
amongst Canadians and how the economy took years to recover. Therefore 9/11 has lasting
impacts on Canadian society and has even caused permanent changes.
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"9/11 and Canada," The Canadian Encyclopedia, |1|, accessed November 09, 2020,
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canada-and-911)