Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Fri. September 11th, 2026

25 years ago today, the world changed in an instant, as a pair of hijacked airplanes took down the Twin Towers in New York City. Hundreds of people lost their lives on September 11th, 2001 – and several others died in the years that followed due to mental trauma and environmental side-effects. The horrific 9/11 attacks shattered our sense of safety and fundamentally re-engineered how Canada and its global allies track threats. Almost overnight, intelligence agencies were trying to predict the next threat before it had a chance to strike society. In the process, Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act dismantled old legal barriers, giving agencies like CSIS and the CSE unprecedented powers to monitor digital data. We check in with Stephanie Carvin, an Associate Professor of International Relations at Carleton University and a former national security analyst. She was studying for her Masters degree when the attacks took place. Shifting gears closer to home, we’ve been hearing from a crowd of people in Centretown that the neighbourhood has been changing over the last few years, and not necessarily for the better. To be more specific, a criminal element could be taking hold. Josh Zaret is a Centretown landlord who owns a property on Argyle Avenue. He has noticed a series of incidents near his neck of the woods, ranging from trespassing to drug use. Police have been called multiple times, and it’s not invoking a sense of safety among his tenants. He sounds the alarm bells in Hour 1. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.