I got up early in the morning, possibly at 5:30 am, and as usual I visited the Bourque web pages as well some related linking pages. In particular, I read the articles "No risk of crowded planet, UN says" of the National Post, "Governments find bigger is better, but for whom?" of the Globe and Mail, and I read the news "Kissinger accused in assassination case" of the Globe and Mail. Then, I prepared coffee for my wife Sharon and my mother in law, did dishes, and later took Sharon to work. As I came back home, I found my mother in law with her left ear glued to the telephone and screaming at me. I could not understand why she was screaming at me, and a bit displeased I stated distinctly "what do you want from me?" She replied she wanted the TV on and watch the news on CNN. So I took the TV remote control two meters away from her, switched on the TV and began to watch the terrible news of "America Under attack" and I could not believe what I was watching: an airplane hitting a tower of the World Trade Center in New York. I was shocked and I still could not realize the gravity of whatever was happening, and in fact nobody could understand it because of the later unfolding catastrophes, the hitting by another plane of the other World Trade Center's tower, the hitting of the Pentagon by another plane, the downing of another plane in Pittsburgh, and eventually the collapse of the two towers.

I had to take my mother in law to Regina and so I could not watch TV anymore, but I kept the radio on during the trip. On our way to Regina I realized of the gravity of the situation as all flights were halted in the US and Canada, and all international incoming planes for the US were diverted to Canada. I already knew of the enormous cost of human lives and I could understand, in this respect, the reservations of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and other spokesmen. Terrorism must not be tolerated, and as President Bush stated in his morning speech that our freedom must be defended I began thinking about freedom from terrorism, freedom from genocide, freedom from illness, freedom from ignorance, freedom from poverty, freedom from pollution, freedom from... Yes, I agreed with President Bush, freedom from terrorism had today the highest priority and it cannot be absolutely negotiated at any cost.

Anyhow, I took my mother in law back to her apartment at University Park in Regina, and it was time for me to head back to Nipawin. I needed some cash to buy gasoline and therefore I went to the CIBC Bank of Commerce branch at University Park. I wrote a cheque to myself for $50.00 and I asked the teller Ms. Kathy Coolican to cash it. She said that she had to verify my signature and stated that I could cash the cheque only if I could show her a CIBC card or the related VISA card. I got a bit disturbed since I didn't have any of these cards with me. I showed Ms. Coolican the following cards to identify myself: Driver License, SIN card, Saskatchewan Health card, Citizenship Certificate. Ms. Coolican remarked that all of these cards were not adequate to identify myself and verify my signature on the cheque. I went back to my mother in law's apartment, I gave her a cheque on her behalf for $50.00 and we went back to the bank to cash it. This time the cheque was OK since we followed the established procedures of the bank. Today, it doesn't seem enough to be a citizen and behave like one, we need to comply with the procedures of our banks.

On my way back to Nipawin I continued to listen to the sad news afflicting the entire world with the hope that after this tragedy we will be able to take the culprits of this act of terror to justice, eradicate terrorism all over the world, and continue to work for our freedoms and a stronger democracy.

Ensign's earlier reactions to this event :

Unacceptable http://www.ftlcomm.com:6080/ensign/currentEvents/WTC/wtc.html 

Reactions To The Terrorist Attacks On The United States http://www.ftlcomm.com:16080/ensign/currentEvents/WTC/reactions/reactions.html