A state funeral is underway for former Canadian prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney.
Taking place at the iconic and ornate Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, the ceremony celebrating his life and legacy began at 11 a.m. EDT.
Saturday’s commemoration started with the tolling of the cathedral’s carillon bells, 84 times, representing Mulroney’s age at the time of his death.
The funeral procession — including a Royal Canadian Mounted Police mounted escort, a Canadian Armed Forces escort, a guard of honour, the Royal Canadian Air Force band, RCMP pallbearers and honorary pallbearers — then made the snowy kilometre-long journey from Saint-Patrick’s Basilica to the cathedral.
Following behind the cortege leading Mulroney’s casket into the grand space, were his wife Mila, their four children Caroline, Ben, Mark and Nicholas, as well as some grandchildren.
An insignia bearer placed a cushion with Mulroney’s insignia on the casket, as the first operatic musical interlude began.
The service will feature family readings, as well as eulogies by his daughter and Ontario cabinet minister Caroline Mulroney, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former U.S. secretary of state James Baker but delivered by Timothy Baker, former Mulroney-era cabinet minister and premier of Quebec Jean Charest, and prominent Canadian businessman Pierre Karl Peladeau.
Guests invited to the ceremony include family, friends, current and former government representatives from a cross-section of political backgrounds, foreign dignitaries, prominent businesspeople, as well as representatives of organizations to which Mulroney had a close connection.
Among those in attendance are Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, actor Ryan Reynolds, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Loblaws’ Galen Weston, former prime minister Stephen Harper, and former broadcaster Peter Mansbridge. As these VIP attendees—largely dressed in black— milled about, singers could be heard warming up in the background.
The funeral service, expected to last two hours, will incorporate religious elements, artistic components — including a performance by Mulroney’s granddaughter — and conclude with a 19-gun salute conducted from the clock tower pier in the Old Port of Montreal.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the bells will toll again 18 times, reflecting of his tenure as 18th prime minister of Canada.
According to a federal government official, the family has planned a private burial for the former prime minister following the funeral.
Funeral concludes week of mourning
Today’s events follow a week of commemorations both in that city and in the nation’s capital, providing Canadians an opportunity to reflect on his contributions and offer their condolences.
Federal party leaders and MPs paid tribute to Mulroney’s political legacy on Monday in the House of Commons, regaling his family seated in the viewing gallery, with their memories.
Then, over Tuesday and Wednesday, approximately 2,000 members of the public and numerous other dignitaries attended Mulroney’s lying in state where his casket was placed on a pedestal and draped in the Canadian flag, while his family — pillars of strength amid their own grief — stood for hours accepting condolences.
The Ottawa portion of the commemorations concluded with the Mulroney funeral procession doing one final sombre but symbolic drive by Centre Block and the Centennial Flame.
The cortege then travelled to Montreal for two additional days of lying in repose at Saint-Patrick’s Basilica, a location of close personal significance for the Mulroney family.
To help usher Mulroney in to the state funeral, 17 honourary pallbearers were chosen, including close friends of the former prime minister, reflective of the various chapters of his life.
Among those tapped to take on this role were: Former Mulroney chief of staff and ambassador Derek Burney; former senator and progressive conservative stalwart Michel Cogger; Grammy-winning songwriter David Foster; prominent lawyer Jacques Jeansonne; former journalist and Mulroney director of communications William J. Fox; biographer L. Ian MacDonald; and Norton Rose Fulbright chair Walied Soliman.
Canada’s 18th prime minister
Mulroney died surrounded by family in February, at age 84.
Over his impressive — yet at times divisive — political career, Mulroney left an unmistakable mark on the country as he pressed forward on a series of what he later described as “big ticket items.”
Born in 1939 to a working class family in Baie-Comeau, Que., he worked behind the scenes in conservative politics for years before clinching the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1983. Mulroney went on to run a commanding 1984 federal campaign, winning a majority with the largest number of seats in Canadian history.
As Canada’s 18th prime minister, Mulroney embarked on an at-times stormy prime ministership that in nine years both strengthened and tested the country. He took Canada on a forced march through two major efforts to bring Quebec into the constitutional fold, secured the Acid Rain Accord among numerous other environmental initiatives, and introduced the reviled Goods and Services Tax (GST).
On the international stage, Mulroney gave Canada a new sense of respect and presence. He rallied countries against apartheid and built stronger trade ties with the United States.
Though, as a weary country drifted into a recession, Mulroney’s polling numbers plummeted to a historic low, and in 1993 he declared in a Centre Block meeting room that the time had come “for me to step aside,” after doing his “very best” for his country, handing the reins over to Kim Campbell a few months later.
After navigating some post-politics reputational turmoil, Mulroney went on to cement himself as a trusted adviser to his political successors both Conservative and Liberal, leading prominent Canadians and elected officials of all stripes to remember him as a formidable leader, who never hesitated to pick up the phone.
