Quebecers to pay respects to Brian Mulroney as public tribute moves to Montreal

By The Canadian Press on March 21, 2024.

A hearse carrying the casket of the late prime minister Brian Mulroney pauses as it is driven past the Centennial Flame and Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

MONTREAL – Quebecers will get their chance to pay their respects to Brian Mulroney in his home province as the tributes to the former prime minister move to Montreal.

Mulroney’s casket will lie in repose at St. Patrick’s Basilica today and Friday ahead of Saturday’s state funeral.

Mulroney, who was prime minister for nine years between 1984 and 1993, died Feb. 29 at age 84.

He was born in Baie-Comeau, Que., and his Progressive Conservatives would later take the lion’s share of the province’s seats while winning back-to-back majorities in the 1984 and 1988 elections.

The former prime minister’s casket left Ottawa on Wednesday, after two days of lying in state that included visits from Canada’s prime minister, political dignitaries and members of the public.

A state funeral is set for Saturday at the Notre-Dame Basilica, with eulogies from Mulroney’s daughter Caroline, Jean Charest and Wayne Gretzky.