In 2001, Todd Battis was a science correspondent for CTV News. On Sept. 11, a story that he was working on was set to broadcast on CTV National News about a Canadian wind tunnel built to demonstrate how wind sheer affected the Twin Towers as part of the World Trade Center’s construction. It was the day everything changed.
Twenty-five years later, Todd Battis, now the Chief News Anchor at CTV News Atlantic, shares his thoughts on the aftermath of 9/11 and how Canada and the rest of the world have changed.
Life moves at its own pace.
Change tends to come gradually, usually offering time to adjust and accept. But the events of Sept. 11, 2001, in Manhattan 25 years ago, brought sudden and lasting change, clouding life ever since.
To many, there is before 9/11 and after. It’s a “where were you” moment, similar to the assassination of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy decades earlier.
Yet an entire generation, born after the attack, has now come of age. For them, there is no memory of the day. It is history, played out through television news clips from the past. While detached from the experience, younger generations have lived with the consequences their entire lives and will continue to.
Tighter airport screening, body scans, liquid bans and locked airline cockpits. Those are all born after 9/11 and ushered in an era of heavy security at events and stricter controls at borders.
It also changed our language. Almost immediately, new terms were imposed that are now part of the lexicon: “Ground Zero,” “9/11,” and “the war on terror.”
It sparked a conflict that lasted 12 years, and personal battles that continue for those who fought in Afghanistan, and those who mourn the 165 Canadians killed there. Veterans continue to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder from time served in that “war on terror.”
9/11 contributed significantly to an era of blame and hate. Profiling of racial groups, Islamophobia and an atmosphere of suspicion fuelled by conspiracy theories. Misleading messages would take on new energy with the growth of social media in the months and years that followed.
Moments after the planes struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, air travel abruptly stopped and airlines were ordered to land their flights. Many planes set down in Canada. Halifax, Vancouver, and famously, Newfoundland, saw their populations suddenly swell with foreign travellers.
Amid the confusion, stranded passengers found compassion. They created lasting friendships in places like Gander, where homes and hearts opened when skies closed. Acts of humanity in the days that followed would shine through.
Those acts were chronicled in the form of a musical. Song, dance and laughter that highlighted not the horror of the time, but kindness and care. That illustrated good remained in the world. “Come From Away” became a Broadway hit and an international sensation. Art made a stand, confronting the unthinkable and a dark moment when it seemed everything had changed.
