She had sung “O Canada” countless times before, but this was the first time she’d done so as a Canadian.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Sannella moved to Toronto 28 years ago for a job. For the longest time, she still considered herself a U.S. citizen, with a part of her thinking she might move back one day.

But that changed last fall.

“Because of the political climate down there, I decided finally after the last U.S. election that I was really Canadian in my heart and home is here with my boys,” Sannella said, referring to her Canadian-born children and husband.

Sannella will be spending her first Canada Day officially as a citizen, a title she says comes with responsibility.

“Yes, it is a privilege to be a citizen, it’s a privilege to vote, it’s a privilege to live here. But it’s also a responsibility to ensure that it continues on,” she said.

Sannella said U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war and talk of making Canada the 51st state further fuelled her desire to become a citizen.

The tumultuous political environment south of the border and increasing displays of Canadian patriotism amid Trump’s threats may have also spurred others in the country to seek Canadian citizenship, said Howard Ramos, a sociology professor at Western University.

When there is a sense of pride in a country, it makes other people interested in joining and celebrating that identity, he said.

“It becomes infectious.”

However, Ramos said it’s too early to tell whether more people are applying for Canadian citizenship due to the Canada-U.S. trade tensions.

That certainly wasn’t the case for Simone Goloven, who also recently became a Canadian and now holds citizenship of three countries.

“I wasn’t that person who was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to become a Canadian now because I don’t want to be an American anymore,” said Goloven, who was born in the United States and grew up in France.

“I still feel a part of the United States and France and my heart really does hurt for everything that’s happening over (in the U.S),” she said.

Goloven came to Canada in 2013 when she learned that she could study in a Quebec university for the same price as domestic students due to her French citizenship.

She said she knew she wanted to call Canada home when she realized her background would be embraced here.

“The beautiful thing about Canada is that you don’t need to give anything up. You can still be who you are and respect and celebrate your culture and where you came from,” said Goloven.

Still, she said, the patriotism in the country has made it “more powerful” to be Canadian than ever before.

As she celebrates Canada Day at a barbecue for new citizens in Sherbrooke, Que., Goloven said she will also keep in mind the country’s past and its relationship with its Indigenous communities.

“When I was getting my citizenship, on the call the judge mentioned how as new citizens it’s our responsibility for reconciliation and to learn more about our history and to not forget about it,” she said.

Christian Jaehn-Kreibaum is also marking his first Canada Day as a citizen this year. He’ll spend the holiday volunteering at a fireworks show in Belleville, Ont., where he will be helping attendees navigate the parking lot.

Jaehn-Kreibaum moved to Canada from Hamburg in 1999 and said he delayed getting his citizenship because Germany didn’t allow dual citizenships until last year.

“So, I finally came to my senses last September and said, ‘let’s attack it,” he said.

After taking his oath at an Ottawa ceremony in mid-June, Jaehn-Kreibaum said he is most looking forward to being able to vote and call himself Canadian – something he said people don’t appreciate enough.

“Canadians undervalue themselves. They should be saying more that they are proud Canadians,” he said.

“As a German in Canada, I can say, ‘[Do] you realize the kind of great country that you have?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2025.

Vanessa Tiberio, The Canadian Press

Beginning Monday, Nov. 11, the city will only pick up green carts every other week instead of weekly.

They will now be picked up on the same week as blue carts from Nov. 11 up until March 31, 2025. They will return to weekly pick ups when seasonal yard waste increases.

“We see a steep decrease in organics collected over the winter months, so switching green cart collection to every other week in the winter helps optimize efficiency of the program while still meeting residents’ needs,” said Waste Diversion Specialist, Marilyn Moore.

“Blue and black cart collection schedules won’t change, but green carts will be collected every other week until the end of March when yard waste increases.”

A cart collection schedule is available on he City’s website and residents can also sign up for cart collection notifications through Notify Red Deer.

The City estimates construction will take approximately three months with staff and public safety a priority. The cost remains within the previously set budget of $562,000.

“Doing business at the City of Lacombe should be easy, convenient, and safe for our residents and staff,” Mayor Grant Creasey said in a media release.

“These improvements will ensure our City Hall remains accessible, and functional for everyone. Most importantly, these renovations will extend the viability of this facility, allowing it to continue to serve taxpayers for the foreseeable future.”

The renovations focus on the spaces occupied by the Finance and Planning and Development Departments.

The renovations are expected to improve the customer experience for the residents of Lacombe. Some of the benefits include more meeting and functional spaces, public access to services from one counter, and a barrier free counter.

The changes will also limit public access to staff areas for safety reasons. Instead, when the public needs access to a secure area, a staff member will escort them through the security access doors. Staff members will have fob access.

During their regular council meeting Monday, Oct. 28, Councillor Don Gullekson asked if their had been any security incidents.

Diane Piché, Director of Corporate and Protective Services, said there have been one or two incidents where a member of the public had gone to the back to speak with staff without approved access.

However, there haven’t been any circumstances where staff have been violently threatened or attacked.

The plans were first identified in 2023 through three different designs presented to city council. One of the designs was chosen but after they were all over budget, the project was put on hold.

Two qualified construction companies submitted updated bids, one for $319,486 and the other for $549,477. Ultimately, IMC Construction Ltd. was recommended because of their lower costs.

Moves have also been made for uninterrupted service to the public through the construction process such as moving staff to other buildings. Council meetings will also go as planned as well.

“I hate to put anymore money into this building to be honest with you,” Gullekson said during the city council general meeting.

“I don’t like that at all because the future of this is certainly not longterm.”

Gullekson then asked if there was any thought given to improving security access alone without any renovations. Piché replied there was not a lot of thought given to that possibility.

Councillor Chris Ross also expressed mixed feelings.

“When we look at our 10-year capital plan, I can somewhat agree as when do we keep lipsticking a facility or building that’s only got so many square feet,” he said.

“Do we really just have a longterm plan because that half a million dollars on public works could have went towards probably an upgraded building that would have been more energy efficient and more longevity. That was really frustrating and three or more hundred thousand dollars into this facility when $2 million builds a new building.”

Meanwhile, councillor Scott Dallas believes there is a sense of importance to the project because of how many times it’s been brought to council.

“It is not just a frivolous ask,” Dallas said.

“I also don’t believe that this building is not longterm for us since nobody has put forward a plan to replace it and there isn’t anything in the future. As much as we maybe don’t want to invest in a facility like this, it seems like we aren’t doing anything to replace it or to find an alternative to invest in this facility.”

Mayor Grant Creasey agreed with councillor Gullekson in respect to putting money into a building that doesn’t have a long lifespan.

However, he said he wants to have a building that represents the community well and is up to standard. He was also on the fence about it.

“Security is important, however, we do need to be realistic in the fact that I think we have had precious few incidents that would really justify any type of substantial upgrades all on it’s own,” he said.

“For me, somewhere in the balance is this one number in the $300,000 range that somewhat reluctantly I could still support with the hopes that it would accomplish our goals and move this building along for another decade and a half or so.”

Ultimately, the project was approved in a vote of five to one, only councillor Gullekson voted against it.

Red Deer’s largest homeless shelter Safe Harbour Society is averaging nearly 400 people per day through October and executive director Perry Goddard says it’s getting even higher.

Since January 2024, they’ve had 36,000 shelter stays with many returning multiple times.

“The cold weather is only just beginning so we’re expecting an upswing,” Goddard said.

“There are other reasons as well. We’re seeing more and more people come to us from Edmonton and Calgary.”

Goddard said the reason for that is because since Red Deer is a smaller community, the homeless from the big cities feel safer in central Alberta.

Safe Harbour is also the only low barrier shelter meaning they accept everyone even those who are intoxicated.

Goddard explained they’ve been meeting with the City of Red Deer, along with other local shelters, once a month since the spring in hopes of finding a solution. Since the beginning of October, they’ve been meeting every week.

They’re looking for additional shelter space but in some cases it’s more about additional warming spaces so people don’t freeze.

“We’ve looked at what other cities have done and they’ve addressed it in numerous ways using municipal spaces like recreation centres, and churches,” he said.

“We’ve been working with the city and meet on a weekly basis because we all recognize the urgency there. Hopefully in the next few weeks there will be a shared solution that comes out from the city, the community, and organizations like us.”

Their max capacity at Safe Harbour is just under 200, which is the largest number out of any of the shelters in the community.

Another discussion point Goddard said is if they’re at capacity and someone else shows up looking for a place to stay, what are they supposed to do?

“Ethically and morally we can’t turn anybody away when it’s 30 below,” he said.

Dwayne Kraushar, shelter manager at The Mustard Seed Red Deer location, said in 2023 their shelter was full 90 per cent of the time and this year since January, they’ve been at capacity 97 per cent of the time.

In addition, since Oct. 1 they’ve been at 98 per cent capacity.

“It’s been consistent throughout the year but in the winter we’re seeing more people coming in for our drop in services during the day as well,” he said.

“We’ve seen on monthly average 600 individuals coming in for our drop in services and meal services.”

Kraushar said it’s been busy even when it’s been warm but in the winter it’s all about how they can keep people safe.

“This year we’re turning away an average of two people per night. That’s people who need to access our shelter and in the winter it’s going to get even worse,” he added.

Both shelters are currently looking for new or gently used winter clothes and other items for those in need. To donate visit their websites for more information.

“We piled 11 people into three cars with 11 pieces of luggage and travelled through the night and arrived home,” said Patrick Gobeil, who said his group rented vehicles on New Year’s Eve to get home to Prince Albert, Sask., after Sunwing left them in Calgary.

Sunwing has been scrambling to bring hundreds of passengers home from destinations such as Mexico after winter storms disrupted its operations over the holidays.

On Friday, Sunwing Vacations announced it was suspending its flights from the Saskatoon and Regina airports for a month due to extenuating circumstances.

Gobeil said his group of 11 people flew to Mazatlan, Mexico, on Dec. 9 and were supposed to fly back to Saskatoon on Dec. 23, but Sunwing kept delaying their return until Dec. 30, when they finally got a flight.

He said he didn’t know he wouldn’t be returning to Saskatoon until he noticed a Calgary tag had been attached to his luggage. He said Sunwing staff on the plane promised hotel and meal vouchers in the city and assured his party they would get transport to Saskatchewan.

Gobeil said they eventually had to book their own rooms after waiting in Calgary for hours. When they returned to the airport the next morning, Sunwing staff promised a manager was coming to help them.

“All of a sudden, they left out the back and we were left there by ourselves,” Gobeil said.

Traci Goertzen of Griffin, Sask., said Sunwing flew her to Regina on New Year’s Eve after her return from the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta was delayed by nearly a week, but she estimated there were about 50 empty seats on the plane.

Goertzen said she had met another family in the terminal that was trying to get to Saskatoon. She said they would have flown to Regina, but were told they couldn’t be on the flight.

“That family from Saskatoon, they were literally crying in the airport because they wanted to go home so bad,” said Goertzen.

Other Saskatchewan residents in a Facebook group formed by Sunwing passengers who have been trying to get home said they were flown to Winnipeg.

Sunwing did not respond to questions from The Canadian Press on Monday about the vacant seats or what has been happening to Saskatchewan passengers.

It said last week that it had planned 43 recovery flights. The airline apologized, saying despite its best efforts, it has failed to deliver on its customers’ expectations.

Gobeil said the Sunwing crew on his flight to Canada seemed to believe there were only 19 Saskatchewan passengers on the plane when, in fact, there were about 100.

He said despite daily, repeated attempts to contact the airline, he’s not sure they knew that his group were still in Mexico.

“I completed a survey about my completed vacation with Sunwing and got a $50 voucher, eight days before I got home. And it wasn’t the nicest review,” said Gobeil.

Goertzen said she was supposed to have flown back on one of the rescue flights several days earlier, but they were told the plane had a broken antenna. Then they were told the wrong part was shipped and another would have to be ordered from China. Then they heard nothing.

“It was just mentally frustrating. I don’t even know how to put it into words because it was that much of a fiasco,” Goertzen said when summing up the ordeal.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said last week that while airlines and air travel are regulated by the federal government, his transportation minister has been in contact with Sunwing and with federal transport minister asking for a detailed plan of how and when passengers who travelled from Saskatchewan will get back.

“In the days ahead, we expect Sunwing to appropriately compensate everyone who did not receive the service they purchased,” Moe said Friday.

Sunwing said in a statement Friday that it had planned to supplement seasonal demand for travel from Saskatoon and Regina with the assistance of temporary foreign pilots for the winter months.

It said it brought in sub-services to sustain its operations, buy After that plan failed to materialize, Sunwing eventually concluded “the conditions and schedule have proven too significant” to continue with regular operations. 

The airline said last week that “most, if not all, delayed customers should return home by Jan. 2.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2023.

—By Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton

The Canadian Press

The federal statutory holiday, also known as Orange Shirt Day, was established last year to remember children who died while being forced to attend residential schools, as well as those who survived, and the families and communities still affected by lasting trauma.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined representatives of various First Nations and dozens of people in orange for a sunrise ceremony in Niagara Falls, Ont. He stood silently as the ceremony took place and spoke with survivors afterwards.

Later in the morning, Trudeau addressed an event to mark the day.

“This is a day for Indigenous Peoples. Today to recognize that yes, you are still here, you are still strong, and you are an indissociable part of the present and the future we build every day as a country,” he told the crowd.

“It is a day to remember, to grieve, to take another step along healing. But it is also a day for non-Indigenous peoples to recognize that you should not have to carry this burden alone.”

The speeches and events occur even as the grim work that helped inspire the day continues.

In Mission, B.C., where Orange Shirt Day finds its origins, work began in September to search for graves with ground-penetrating radar at the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School. The City of Mission said in a statement the efforts would continue as long as dry weather allows.

It was at another Mission school, St. Joseph Mission Residential School, where student Phyllis Webstad had an orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, taken away when she attended the school in the 1970s.

Webstad’s story led to the foundation of Orange Shirt Day, which would become the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

It was established as a federal statutory holiday last year following the discovery of suspected unmarked burial sites at former residential schools.

Webstad was at the Niagara Falls event and said she had a realization while looking at a picture of her family in 2018.

“I realized that for the first time in five generations, children in my family, my grandchildren, are being raised by their mother and their father. (My) granny, (my) mum, me and my son didn’t have that because of residential school,” she said, surrounded by over a dozen members of her family and extended family.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald said in an interview that the day was about residential school survivors and the children who never returned.

“It’s their day, especially those who suffered in those institutions and survived and then I also feel that it’s for all the little ones who died in those institutions and didn’t make it home,” she said.

“It’s also a time to reflect. It’s a time to learn about Canada’s true history.”

In Victoria, a city hall official estimated that up to 10,000 people attended a Songhees Nation powwow at Victoria’s Royal Athletic Park.

“To the survivors, we’re here to support you in any way we can,” said Songhees Nation Chief Ron Sam. “I raise my hands to each and every one of you for coming here.”

B.C. Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin, holding a deer skin drum made by a residential school survivor, said his heart was full as he looked at how many people had gathered.

“Thank you,” he said. “Be patient with us as we take this journey of reconciliation together.”

Earlier, at Centennial Square in Victoria, hundreds stood silently, some wiping tears, as residential school survivor Eddy Charlie said he needed to share awful truths.

Charlie, from the Cowichan Valley about 45 kilometres north of Victoria, said he was barely five years old when he arrived at a residential school, and years away from his family turned him and others into “perfect hate machines.”

The more he told his story of pain and trauma, the easier it became to heal, he said.

“That is my hope for victory on Orange Shirt Day,” Charlie said.

In Winnipeg, thousands shouted “Every child matters” as they marched to the RBC Convention Centre.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe Chief Derek Nepinak told the crowd that there can’t be reconciliation without truth, and the sites of former schools and sanatoriums must be searched for graves.

“Canada has to make those investments to help us find our lost ones because there are so many of them out there. Once we can identify that, then we can start talking about the true history of what Canada’s built upon — the tears and heartbreak of our people,” he said.

Brandyn Nabess attended the Winnipeg event with his wife and son. His grandmother was forced to attend a residential school as a child, but he says she hid this from her children. He says he was glad to see this changing.

“It’s awesome that they’re finally talking about it. With us, we didn’t acknowledge it, we didn’t talk about it in school whatsoever.”

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon — the first Indigenous person to hold the post — welcomed nearly 100 schoolchildren and staff to Rideau Hall in Ottawa, where she spoke to them about reconciliation.

Simon told the children she grew up speaking Inuktitut. “I still speak my language every day,” she said, adding she doesn’t want to forget it.

Simon, who is 75, said at her age she’s learning a new language, French, and told the kids it would be good if they could a learn an Indigenous word every day. She then went on to teach them an Inuktitut word that means to never give up.

In Toronto, a group drummed and sang Indigenous songs as a woman in traditional attire danced at a gathering at the city’s downtown Nathan Phillips Square.

Kevin Myran, an organizer of the drummers’ team, said his grandmother was a residential school survivor and told him horrific stories.

Myran said one day isn’t enough to commemorate the historical losses suffered by Indigenous Peoples.

“It is something (that) needs to be spoken about every day. It is something that needs to be spoken about at schools, this is something that needs to be in history books, and talk about what happened,” he said.

Hundreds gathered in downtown Halifax to mark the day and hear from Acadia First Nation Chief Deborah Robinson and Mi’kmaw elder Alan Knockwood.

Knockwood told the crowd at the city’s Grand Parade that as the community comes together to reflect on Canada’s legacy of colonialism, the children lost in the residential school system are “here in our hearts and they are with us here.”

He led a prayer in English and in Mi’kmaw.

“My language is still alive but residential school survivors like myself have a difficult time speaking it because it was beaten out of me.”

Many of Nova Scotia’s planned events were postponed due to the damage from post-tropical storm Fiona.

Canada’s residential school system, funded by the federal government and run by Catholic churches, was established in the 1800s. It removed roughly 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children from their families. The last school closed in 1997.

Many children were sexually, physically or psychologically abused in the system designed to get the “Indian” out of the child.

In Yellowknife, Shutoatine or Mountain Dene Elder Paul Andrew, a residential school survivor who was formerly chief of Tulita, N.W.T., spoke of late friends with whom he attended the residential school in Inuvik, and the experience of parents “who had their children taken away.“

“I also think about these little ones here,” he said, referring to Indigenous children in the crowd.

“They deserve better. That’s what resiliency is all about. It is people singing their songs, talking about praying in the mornings, it is talking about our language, our culture, our history and teaching the young ones.”

The future of Indigenous children was also on the mind of Webstad at Niagara Falls. She said her children and grandchildren brought her hope and helped her believe that the future is bright.

“The other night I heard my eldest grandson sing for the first time. I almost cried when I heard that,” said Webstad, suppressing emotion.

“So, we are getting back our culture.”

Treaty 8 Grand Chief Arthur Noskey says the Queen’s death last week wasn’t good timing, as First Nations were making progress in working with the Crown toward upholding treaty agreements. 

“We were building up not only the momentum, but letting (the Queen) know that the Crown and the relationship understood by our people is not what’s being delivered by administrators,” Noskey said from his office in Edmonton.

Treaty-Crown relations have been a complex issue since the inception of the agreements. Some were signed under vulnerable circumstances, while others were implemented as peace treaties, and most weren’t negotiated accurately or in Indigenous languages.

“It hasn’t resonated to what our forefathers’ expectations were. Even today, there are a lot of discrepancies,” said Noskey.

He warned the Crown’s honour is at stake if conversations with the new monarch aren’t carried on. 

“I hope we don’t have to start from ground zero with King Charles.”

Canada’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ralph Goodale, has said the King may be “a little more outgoing and a little less reserved” than his mother.

He said he expects the new monarch will want to continue to take an interest in issues that are important to Canada, including reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

Crystal Fraser, an assistant professor in the faculty of native studies at the University of Alberta, said the Queen’s death marks the end of an era but is also a time for reflection. 

“The Queen was the representative of a colonial empire that really did a lot of harm internationally to colonial countries and especially to Indigenous nations here in Canada.”

Oppressive colonial policies have tainted Canada’s history for centuries, more recently with the residential school system, the ’60s Scoop, forced sterilization of Indigenous women and forced relocation of Inuit in the North, all of which occurred during the Queen’s reign.

“These decisions were made in part through Christian churches, through the Canadian government, through policing bodies like the RCMP. But at the end of the day … all of this is done in the spirit of the British Empire,” said Fraser.

Like many other Indigenous community members, Fraser said her expectations are low when it comes to significant changes from the monarchy regarding reconciliation.

“At the end of the day, it is still a British monarchy that colonized a lot of the world and continues to profit from that,” she said.

In May, Charles and his wife, Camilla, visited Yellowknife and the Dettah Dene settlement on the final leg of their Canadian tour for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Their visit focused on reconciliation and climate change.

During the visit, the Assembly of First Nations and the Métis National Council requested an apology from the monarchy. In a speech before departing Yellowknife, Charles said it had been moving to meet residential school survivors and acknowledged their pain and suffering, but did not apologize.

Inuit leader Piita Irniq was taken from his family as a child and forced to live at Turquetil Hall and attend Sir Joseph Bernier Day School in Chesterfield Inlet, Nvt.

He said the Royal Family should apologize for residential schools and the loss of language, traditional beliefs and parenting skills.

Irniq said he looks to the future and establishing a better relationship between Inuit and the royals to move toward Inuuqatigiittiarniq, an Inuktitut term that means “living in peace and harmony.”

Some First Nations leaders in British Columbia have urged the King to make his first official act a renunciation of the Doctrine of Discovery, which are edicts or papal bulls used to justify the colonization of the Americas.

Some Indigenous academics have said the doctrine underlies all the policies that came after it.

“The Doctrine of Discovery dehumanized non-Europeans while empires waged war and stole lands, resources and wealth that rightfully belonged to Indigenous peoples all over the world,” members from the BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit and Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs said in a joint release.

“With a change in Canada’s head of state, it’s time for a change in the Crown’s approach to Indigenous sovereignty.”

Calls to rescind the doctrine reverberated across the country this past summer as Pope Francis visited Canada to apologize for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools. At the time, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said they would work with the Vatican to address the requests. 

The King is in a position to acknowledge the “historic crimes committed by his predecessors and set the stage for a new relationship with Indigenous Peoples around the globe,” First Nations leaders in B.C. said.

National Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Assembly of First Nations said her next step in Crown relations is to see a Royal Proclamation of Reconciliation issued by the Crown, part of a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“As many mourn the passing of QE2, let’s remember that grief and accountability can exist in the same space, simultaneously,” Archibald wrote in a tweet Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2022.

— With files from Emily Blake in Yellowknife and Brittany Hobson in Winnipeg.

___

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.  

Angela Amato, The Canadian Press

Victims’ relatives and dignitaries are gathering Sunday at all three places where hijacked jets crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 — the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff are attending the ceremony at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York.

President Joe Biden plans to speak and lay a wreath at the Pentagon, while first lady Jill Biden is scheduled to speak in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, spurred a U.S. “war on terror” worldwide and affect American politics and public life to this day.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans are remembering 9/11 with moments of silence, readings of victims’ names, volunteer work and other tributes 21 years after the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil.

Victims’ relatives and dignitaries will convene Sunday at the places where hijacked jets crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 — the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

Other communities around the country are marking the day with candlelight vigils, interfaith services and other commemorations. Some Americans are joining in volunteer projects on a day that is federally recognized as both Patriot Day and a National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The observances follow a fraught milestone anniversary last year. It came weeks after the chaotic and humbling end of the Afghanistan war that the U.S. launched in response to the attacks.

But if this Sept. 11 may be less of an inflection point, it remains a point for reflection on the attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, spurred a U.S. “war on terror” worldwide and reconfigured national security policy.

It also stirred — for a time — a sense of national pride and unity for many, while subjecting Muslim Americans to years of suspicion and bigotry and engendering debate over the balance between safety and civil liberties. In ways both subtle and plain, the aftermath of 9/11 ripples through American politics and public life to this day.

And the attacks have cast a long shadow into the personal lives of thousands of people who survived, responded or lost loved ones, friends and colleagues.

More than 70 of Sekou Siby’s co-workers perished at Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the trade center’s north tower. Siby had been scheduled to work that morning until another cook asked him to switch shifts.

Siby never took a restaurant job again; it would have brought back too many memories. The Ivorian immigrant wrestled with how to comprehend such horror in a country where he’d come looking for a better life.

He found it difficult to form the type of close, family-like friendships he and his Windows on the World co-workers had shared. It was too painful, he had learned, to become attached to people when “you have no control over what’s going to happen to them next.”

“Every 9/11 is a reminder of what I lost that I can never recover,” says Siby, who is now president and CEO of ROC United. The restaurant workers’ advocacy group evolved from a relief center for Windows on the World workers who lost their jobs when the twin towers fell.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden plans to speak and lay a wreath at the Pentagon, while first lady Jill Biden is scheduled to speak in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the hijacked planes went down after passengers and crew members tried to storm the cockpit as the hijackers headed for Washington. Al-Qaida conspirators had seized control of the jets to use them as passenger-filled missiles.

Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff are due at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York, but by tradition, no political figures speak at the ground zero ceremony. It centers instead on victims’ relatives reading aloud the names of the dead.

Readers often add personal remarks that form an alloy of American sentiments about Sept. 11 — grief, anger, toughness, appreciation for first responders and the military, appeals to patriotism, hopes for peace, occasional political barbs, and a poignant accounting of the graduations, weddings, births and daily lives that victims have missed.

Some relatives also lament that a nation which came together — to some extent — after the attacks has since splintered apart. So much so that federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, which were reshaped to focus on international terrorism after 9/11, now see the threat of domestic violent extremism as equally urgent.

Jennifer Peltz And Karen Matthews, The Associated Press

Industry leaders and politicians have urged Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan to end the labour dispute after 3,000 conductors, engineers and train and yard workers were off the job over the weekend.

The company and union both blamed each other for causing the work stoppage, though both also said they were still talking with federal mediators on Sunday.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty says O’Regan must table back to work legislation immediately. He warns the consequences to the supply chain — already battered by the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty in northern Europe — could be severe.

The House of Commons resumes today following a two-week break, so legislation could come immediately if the government so chooses.

But a spokeswoman for O’Regan said yesterday that the government believes the best deal is reached at the bargaining table.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2022.

The Canadian Press

There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of the mosque. Mariupol has seen some of the greatest misery from Russia’s war in Ukraine as unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring in food and water and to evacuate trapped civilians.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey said that a group of 86 Turkish nationals, including 34 children, were among the people who had sought safety in the mosque of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roksolana.

Elsewhere, air raid sirens rang out across the capital region and artillery barrages sent residents scurrying for shelter. Fighting erupted in multiple areas around Kyiv.

Russia’s slow, grinding apparent attempt to encircle the city and the bombardment of other population centers with artillery and air strikes mirror tactics that Russian forces have previously used in other campaigns, notably in Syria and Chechnya, to crush armed resistance.

Artillery pounded Kyiv’s northwestern outskirts. To the city’s southwest, two columns of smoke – one black and one white — rose in the town of Vaslkyiv after a strike on an ammunition depot. The strike on the depot caused hundreds of small explosions from detonating ammunition.

As of Friday, the death toll in Mariupol passed 1,500 during 12 days of attack, the mayor’s office said. A strike on a maternity hospital in the city of 446,000 this week that killed three people sparked international outrage and war-crime allegations.

The ongoing bombardment forced crews to stop digging trenches for mass graves, so the “dead aren’t even being buried,” the mayor said. An Associated Press photographer captured the moment when a tank appeared to fire directly on an apartment building, enveloping one side in a billowing orange fireball.

Russian forces have hit at least two dozen hospitals and medical facilities since they invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the World Health Organization. Ukrainian officials reported Saturday that heavy artillery damaged a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in Mykolaiv, a city 489 kilometers (304 miles) west of Mariupol.

The hospital’s head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the facility during the attack but no one was killed.

The invading Russian forces have struggled far more than expected against determined Ukrainian fighters. But Russia’s stronger military threatens to grind down the defending forces, despite an ongoing flow of weapons and other assistance from the West for Ukraine’s westward-looking, democratically elected government.

The conflict has already sent 2.5 million people fleeing the country. Thousands of soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed along with many Ukrainian civilians.

On the ground, the Kremlin’s forces appeared to be trying to regroup and regain momentum after encountering tough resistance and amassing heavy losses over the past two weeks. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russia is trying to reset and “re-posture” its troops, gearing up for operations against Kyiv.

“It’s ugly already, but it’s going to get worse,” said Nick Reynolds, a warfare analyst at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

Russian forces were blockading Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, even as efforts have been made to create new humanitarian corridors around it and other urban centers so aid can get in and residents can get out.

Ukraine’s emergency services reported Saturday that the bodies of five people – two women, a man and two children – were pulled from an apartment building that was struck by shelling in Kharkiv,

The Russians’ also stepped up attacks on Mykolaiv, located 470 kilometers (292 miles) south of Kyiv, in an attempt to encircle the city.

As part of a multi-front attack on the capital, the Russians’ push from the northeast appeared to be advancing, a U.S. defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the U.S. assessment of the fight. Combat units were moved up from the rear as the forces advanced to within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles miles) of Kyiv.

New commercial satellite images appeared to capture artillery firing on residential areas that stood between the Russians and the capital. The images from Maxar Technologies showed muzzle flashes and smoke from big guns, as well as impact craters and burning homes in the town of Moschun, 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) from Kyiv, the company said.

Residents in a devastated village east of the capital climbed over toppled walls and flapping metal strips in the remnants of a pool hall, restaurant and theater freshly blown apart by Russian bombs.

With temperatures sinking below freezing, villagers quickly spread plastic wrap or nailed plywood over blown-out windows of their homes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “created this mess, thinking he will be in charge here,” 62-year-old Ivan Merzyk said. He added: “We are not going away.”

On the economic and political front, the U.S. and its allies moved to further isolate and sanction the Kremlin. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will dramatically downgrade its trade status with Russia and ban imports of Russian seafood, alcohol and diamonds.

The move to revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” status was taken in coordination with the European Union and Group of Seven countries.

“The free world is coming together to confront Putin,” Biden said.

With the invasion in its 16th day, Putin said Friday that there had been “certain positive developments” in ongoing talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators. He gave no details.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on video to encourage his people to keep fighting.

“It’s impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it,” he said from Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said authorities were working on establishing 12 humanitarian corridors and trying to ensure food, medicine and other urgently needed basics get to people across the country.

He also accused Russia of kidnapping the mayor of one city, Melitopol, calling the abduction “a new stage of terror.” The Biden administration had warned before the invasion of Russian plans to detain and kill targeted people in Ukraine. Zelenskyy himself is a likely top target.

American defense officials said Russian pilots are averaging 200 sorties a day, compared with five to 10 for Ukrainian forces, which are focusing more on surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and drones to take out Russian aircraft.

The U.S. also said Russia has launched nearly 810 missiles into Ukraine.

Until recently, Russia’s troops had made their biggest advances on cities in the east and south while struggling in the north and around Kyiv. They also have started targeting areas in western Ukraine, where large numbers of refugees have fled.

Russia said Friday it used high-precision long-range weapons to put military airfields in the western cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk “out of action.” The attack on Lutsk killed four Ukrainian servicemen, the mayor said.

Russian airstrikes also targeted for the first time Dnipro, a major industrial hub in the east and Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, with about 1 million people. One person was killed, Ukrainian officials said.

In images of the aftermath released by Ukraine’s emergency agency, firefighters doused a flaming building, and ash fell on bloodied rubble. Smoke billowed over shattered concrete where buildings once stood.

The United Nations political chief said the international organization had received credible reports that Russian forces were using cluster bombs in populated areas. International law prohibits the use of the bombs, which scatter smaller explosives over a wide area, in cities and towns.

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Associated Press journalists Felipe Dana and Andrew Drake in Kyiv, Ukraine, and other reporters around the world contributed.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Yuras Karmanau, The Associated Press