Canadian Catholic commemorates compassionate, selfless 9/11 aftermath

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, 48-year-old Kenneth Basnicki was killed while on the 106th floor of New York City’s World Trade Center’s North Tower. The Torontonian had been attending a conference at Risk Waters Group as the financial marketing director for an enterprise software company. After making a call to his mother following the impact of American Airlines Flight 11, Basnicki was never heard from again. 

He was one of 24 Canadians out of the total of 2,977 victims whose lives were claimed during the terrorist attacks. 

That was 25 years ago today. While the sting of that day can never fully be erased, his widow, Maureen Basniki, is still working to make sure Canadians never forget not only the hate, but the love and service that followed on a day that changed the world.

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For her, the work is vital, and today, she’s best known as a prominent victims’ advocate, the co-founder of Secure Canada, which works to improve Canadian counter-terror legislation and tools through a Canadian lens, and, most passionately, she's the founding director and driving force behind Canada’s National Day of Service.

Basnicki established the foundation to recognize, celebrate and inspire the spirit of service in Canada. Its mission is honouring Canadians who dedicate themselves to serving their communities, their country and one another, and in doing so, Sept. 11th was proclaimed a National Day of Service in 2011 and recognized as a Provincial Day of Service in Ontario in 2022.

Once paralyzed by the grief of her husband's fate, she has since found a way to dedicate her work to promoting and celebrating the heroic aspects seen throughout the country on the day, whether through Canadians welcoming travellers in Gander, schools and churches that became shelters or firefighters and search-and-rescue crews that crossed the border to help in New York. 

Still, the memory of her late husband looms large in her mind, especially on the day of his passing. Speaking to the Catholic Register, she shared what she hopes people remember about him beyond that day's headlines.

“He was such a wonderful husband and father, and to me, he exemplified a man of service. He was so much involved with our two children, Brennan and Erica, coaching their soccer and baseball teams, you name it,” she said.

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“He was such a wonderful family man, and as a husband, he was a keeper. I loved him dearly, and he was my best friend.”

Today, Basnicki resides in Collingwood, Ont., where she remains a parishioner of St. Mary’s Parish. More than just her new home away from the city, she spoke about what the town has meant to her, 25 years after her spouse's passing.

“ Collingwood was so important to (Ken) and me, and we built our dream home here that he never got a chance to enjoy, right at the base of Blue Mountain. We planned on retiring up here because he loved this community so much. Without hesitation, I chose to bury some of his remains that I received in St. Mary's Cemetery,” she said.

It’s a resting site she still visits proudly, finding herself at the headstone marking her husband’s burial, standing in the shape of the Twin Towers.

After a short trip to New York, Basnicki celebrated this year’s National Day of Service Dinner in Toronto on Sept. 10th, and will attend a provincial event this evening hosted by the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.

Tonight, 25 years removed from her husband’s untimely death, she instead chooses to focus on remembrance of the Canadians who showed up for people when they were needed most.

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“Today is an opportunity to come together like we did (after 9/11) and do some good. Whether that’s supporting a charity, joining an event organized by someone doing good in your community, giving blood, or even buying a cup of coffee for a service worker, Service Day is about gratitude to the people who showed up,” she said.

“ We all share the goodness of mankind, and so what a message we can send knowing that our values were attacked on 9/11, where hate was the motivating factor, to instead continue to do something good to reinforce that love that we still have for each other.”