Canadians who lost family members in the deadly attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 say they take no pleasure in Osama bin Laden's death, though they believe his passing will make the world a less hateful place.
U.S. President Barack Obama revealed late Sunday that U.S. forces had tracked bin Laden to a compound in Pakistan and killed him in a firefight.
His death was welcomed by many people in the United States, a country which was transformed by the deadly attacks on America that killed more than 3,000 people in the fall of 2001.
Twenty-four Canadians were among the victims on Sept. 11, including Ralph Gerhardt, a bond trader who was killed at the World Trade Center at the age of 34.
His father, Hans Gerhardt of Toronto, wondered how it could take so long for the U.S. to track down the most wanted terrorist in the world.
"You would have hoped this would have come earlier, but this day is as good as any day," Gerhardt told The Canadian Press.
Gerhardt described bin Laden's killing as a kind of "muted victory," because no matter what happens, nothing can bring back his son.
"It's kind of a muted victory. Not that a person was killed but that somebody who was so full of hatred and spread so much hatred and inflicted so much pain on so many people and changed our lives around the world, globally, not only in our household and the people who were affected on 9/11, but the aftermath from that," Gerhardt said.
Stephan Gerhardt, the victim's brother, said he was glad that bin Laden had been stopped from spreading his hateful agenda.
"I don't celebrate a person's death in Osama bin Laden's death, but I do celebrate the death of the hatred that he had for other people," Stephan Gerhardt told CTV's Canada AM from Washington on Monday morning.
Ralph Gerhardt's family has tried to move on with their lives since the Sept. 11 attacks, but their absent son and brother is never far from their thoughts.
"We miss Ralph, we do, every day," Stephan Gerhardt said.
Hans Gerhardt said he is constantly reminded of the death of his son because of continual news stories about the Sept. 11 attacks.
If he had lived, Ralph Gerhardt would have turned 44 next month, at a stage in life where his father believes he would likely have been raising a family of his own.
"You have to treasure the moment you had with him," said Gerhardt.
Ellen Judd of Winnipeg, lost her partner Christine Egan in the 9-11 attacks.
Judd said bin Laden's death is an opportunity to reflect on everything that has changed in the past decade.
"I think that if we look back on this we can see that what's really important is that people to whom Osama Bin Laden was appealing have, for the most part, rejected his call to violence," said Judd.
"So what we have right now is a world in which there are better possibilities than there were 10 years ago."
Bob Ewart lost his 29-year-old daughter, Meredith, when the World Trade Center was attacked. Her body was never recovered after the twin towers fell.
Ewart said hearing that bin Laden had been killed brought no closure to him or his wife.
"Good riddance to him. But closure, no. Jubilation, no. Not really," Ewart told CTV Montreal.
With files from The Canadian Press
