© Reuters. The casket of late former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney is carried by pallbearers to his state funeral on the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 23, 2024. REUTERS/Evan Buhler
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By Blair Gable
MONTREAL (Reuters) – Canada’s dignitaries, political elite, and different well-wishers gathered at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica on Saturday to pay ultimate respects on the state funeral of former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, who died on Feb. 29 at age 84.
Mulroney’s casket, draped within the Canadian flag, arrived on the Notre-Dame Basilica in a procession that included members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the armed forces, and the Mulroney household. His physique had laid in repose on the close by Saint Patrick’s Basilica for public visitation since Thursday.
Born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Mulroney turned Canada’s 18th prime minister when he led the center-right Progressive Conservatives to a historic win in 1984 and served for nearly 9 years in that publish.
Highlights of his tenure included a free commerce take care of america and the introduction of a items and providers tax, which though unpopular helped repair the federal government’s funds.
In attendance at Saturday’s ceremony have been Canada’s Governor Common Mary Simon, present Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Quebec Premier Francois Legault, enterprise mogul Pierre Karl Peladeau, in addition to actor Ryan Reynolds.
“It is the tip of the night for a large however the music continues in his reminiscence,” Trudeau informed the gathering.
A company lawyer turned businessman, Mulroney had a broad smile and booming voice, and was identified for his attraction. He and his spouse Mila had 4 kids.
“My dad held an viewers within the palm of his hand. Speeches have been such a significant a part of his life that he informed us that when it was his flip to go as much as what he referred to as – that nice political rally within the sky – he needed us to bury him along with his podium,” his daughter Caroline Mulroney mentioned in an eulogy.
Mulroney shall be buried in a personal ceremony in Montreal.