'He loved this country with all his heart': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney honoured at state funeral
Friends and admirers gathered in Montreal to remember Canada's 18th prime minister
The late Brian Mulroney — who steered the country through tumultuous times domestically and on the world stage as prime minister — was remembered today as a politician who made tough choices for the greater good at his state funeral in Montreal.
"He took risks and, by doing so, became one of those rarest of leaders — able to define an era as his own," former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who served in Mulroney's cabinet, told the crowd at Montreal's historic Notre-Dame Basilica.
"Here, now, at this very moment, we live in a world that he helped shape."
Mulroney — whose leadership from 1984 to 1993 earned him both praise and controversy — died surrounded by his family in Florida on Feb. 29. He was 84.
The first person to eulogize Mulroney during the two-hours-plus ceremony was his daughter Caroline Mulroney, an Ontario cabinet minister.
"No one gave a speech like my dad," she said.
The packed church, filled with a who's-who of Canadian politics past and present, laughed as Caroline talked about her father's love of public speaking.
"He wanted us to bury him at his podium," she said.
She remembered a man who, despite the constant pressures of his job, always made time for his family — Mila Mulroney, his wife of more than 50 years, their four children and 16 grandchildren.
"My Dad saw the world in a bigger way than most," she said.
"His humanity defined him, which is why he transcended politics and connected people in a way that left an indelible mark on their hearts and on their souls."
Through tears, she shared her father's last moments with those in the packed pews.
She said her mother laid her hands on his cheeks and asked, "Oh Brian, are you coming back to me?"
"His body was tired but his heart would not let him give us up. So Dad looked at Mom and, with what were his final words to her, he said, 'I plan to.'
"We are heartbroken by our loss. We adored him. I miss you, Daddy."
Mulroney's love of family was a theme throughout the sendoff. His three sons, Ben, Mark and Nicolas, offered prayers and one of his granddaughters, Elizabeth Theodora Lapham, took the stage to sing one of her grandfather's favourite songs — When Irish Eyes Are Smiling — with tenor Marc Hervieuz.
As the song finished, guests heard a recording of Mulroney finishing the tune. The stirring moment drew a standing ovation and some some attendees fought back tears.
In his eulogy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Mulroney was motivated by "by getting the big things right" and always remained "generous, charming and very funny."
"We all know how Brian loved to win, yet his most cherished victories were non-partisan — those moments when the true winner was Canada itself," he said.
"Because he loved this country with all his heart. And he didn't just love Canada in the abstract sense. He loved Canadians."
Before a room full of politicians — many of whom were taking shots at each other just this week in the House of Commons — Trudeau cited his predecessor's own words.
"As he put it himself, leaders must have vision and they must find the courage to fight for the policies that will give that vision life," Trudeau said.
"Leaders must govern not for easy headlines in 10 days but for a better Canada in 10 years."
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky placed his hand on the casket before launching into his remarks.
"We've had so many wonderful speakers, you're going to figure out who's in politics and which guy is the hockey player real quick," he said to laughter.
Gretzky offered an anecdote about how Mulroney once told him that the Montreal Canadiens' 1993 Stanley Cup win was great for the country.
"I said, 'Sir, I was on the other team.' That wasn't so great for me," he said to loud laughter.
Gretzky, nicknamed the Great One, called Mulroney "one of the greatest prime ministers we've ever had."
"We're such a proud country and I relate everything to hockey. And in politics, hockey, you fight, you battle, you drive," he said.
"I'm so proud to be a Canadian today, to see past prime ministers, the current prime minister. That's what our country is all about, coming together, being friendly, helping other people and paying respects."
As hundreds of onlookers watched his casket being carried out to the snow-dusted streets, Mulroney's famous baritone returned for one last song — a recording of the Second World War-era ballad We'll Meet Again.
In honour of the 18th prime minister, the church's bells rang 18 times and a 19-gun salute sounded through Old Montreal.
His casket was taken to its final resting place, where the family held a private burial.
A skilled politician and engaging speaker, Mulroney took on politics in a way that was both admired and attacked.
"Whether one agrees with our solutions or not, none will accuse us of having chosen to evade our responsibilities by side-stepping the most controversial issues of our time," Mulroney said in his February 1993 resignation address.
"I've done the very best for my country and my party."
Mulroney's efforts brought about the North American Free Trade Agreement, changing and deepening the economic relationship between Canada, the United States and Mexico. He continued to defend the integrity of the pact when it was reopened under U.S. President Donald Trump.
Former U.S. secretary of state James Baker was scheduled to delivery a eulogy but couldn't attend because of recent back surgery. Instead, Tim McBride, a former senior White House official from George. H. W. Bush's presidency, delivered Baker's remarks in his place.
"To those of us south of the Canadian border, Brian Mulroney was a friend, a staunch, supportive friend who had the confidence to tell us when he thought a different American approach might serve our country better," he said.
"We always listened to Brian Mulroney."
The 'sky was not the limit': Trudeau
Mulroney's government introduced some of the most successful environmental policies in Canadian history: the acid rain treaty to curb sulfur dioxide emissions and the Montreal Protocol.
"That showed that for Brian, the sky was not the limit. He led us with the ambition necessary to actually fix the sky," said Trudeau in his eulogy.
Mulroney's time in office coincided with a consequential period in world affairs, including the end of the Cold War and an international campaign against the racist apartheid caste system in South Africa — a campaign he helped to lead.
On the home front, he tried to calm growing separatist sentiments in Quebec through the failed Meech Lake Accord — which would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" within Canada and would have extended greater powers to the provinces.
Charest called his former boss and mentor "one of Canada's true nation builders"
"Because of Brian Mulroney, we live in one of the greatest countries in the world," he said.
One of Mulroney's most controversial moves in government was the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. He also stacked the Senate with supporters to get the deeply unpopular GST bill through the Liberal-dominated upper house.
"It is clearly not popular, but we're doing it because it's right for Canada. It must be done," Mulroney said of the tax in 1990.
Mulroney's mark on Canada was also shadowed by scandal.
In 1995, a leaked letter revealed that the RCMP had accused Mulroney of having taken kickbacks from Karlheinz Schreiber, a German-Canadian businessman and arms dealer, on the sale of Airbus airliners to Air Canada in the late 1980s. The airline was a Crown corporation at the time.
Mulroney sued the Liberal government and received an apology and damages in 1997, but an inquiry years later concluded the former prime minister's dealings with Schreiber were "inappropriate" and unethical.
Mulroney called accepting the cash a "serious error in judgment" and "my second biggest mistake in life." The first, he said, "was ever agreeing to be introduced to Karlheinz Schreiber in the first place."
Later in life, he became an elder statesman and adviser to politicians of all stripes, always ready to pick up the phone and — in that unmistakable voice— offer advice to the new generation.
"I know that there's not a person in this basilica today whose life has not been touched by Brian," said Charest. "I'll predict this — we will not have enough of our lifetime to hear all of the stories about when he reached out to friends, opponents, and people he had never met."
Guest list a who's-who of Canadian public life
The guest list brought together leading figures from the nation's political past and present — including former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay, former prime minister Stephen Harper and current Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
They were joined by current and former premiers, including former Quebec premier and founder of the Bloc Québécois Lucien Bouchard. Once a close friend of Mulroney, the two men had a famous falling-out before reconciling just before Mulroney's death.
Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds was on the guest list, along with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and former U.K. prime minister John Major.
Some of Canada's most prominent business leaders, including Loblaw president Galen Weston Jr., former newspaper baron Conrad Black, oil magnate Arthur Irving and chairman of Rogers Communications Edward S. Rogers, turned out to say farewell.
The funeral capped a week of public tributes in Montreal and Ottawa.
Mulroney was honoured in the House of Commons before his official lying in state in Ottawa, when hundreds of political dignitaries and members of the public paid their respects to the family. Hundreds more attended his lying in repose at St. Patrick's Basilica in Montreal.
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With files from JP Tasker and the Canadian Press
