View source for Death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau

{{Short description|2000 ceremonial funeral in Montreal, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=November 2012}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:JustinTrudeauTears.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Justin Trudeau]] breaking down into tears after giving his eulogy]] -->
The '''death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau''' took place in 2000. [[Pierre Trudeau]] was the 15th [[prime minister of Canada]], serving from 1968 to 1984, with a brief interruption in 1979–1980. Trudeau died on September 28, 2000. His casket [[Lying in state|lay in state]] on [[Parliament Hill]] from September 30 to October 1 and the following day at [[Montreal City Hall]]. On October 3, a [[State funerals in Canada|state funeral]] was held at [[Notre-Dame Basilica (Montreal)|Notre-Dame Basilica]] in [[Montreal]].
==Death and tributes==
Trudeau died on Thursday, September 28 at 3:00&nbsp;p.m. at his home in Montréal with his surviving sons, [[Justin Trudeau|Justin]] (who became the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada in [[2015 Canadian federal election|2015]]) and [[Alexandre Trudeau|Sacha]], and his former wife, [[Margaret Trudeau|Margaret]] at his side. His death came 20 days before his 81st birthday. He had [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[prostate cancer]].
===Tributes===
[[Maple Leaf flag|Flags]] on the [[Peace Tower]], across Canada, and around the world were ordered flown at half-staff until sunset the day of the funeral. People started to arrive at Trudeau's home and set up a makeshift memorial there. There were tributes from world leaders, including [[U.S. President]] [[Bill Clinton]].
The [[Centennial Flame]] on Parliament Hill became the unofficial place to mark Trudeau's death, where people brought messages of condolence and roses, Pierre Trudeau's symbol. [[Monarchy of Canada|Queen]] [[Elizabeth II]] paid tribute to her former prime minister and, in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], Canada's political leaders did the same, beginning with Prime Minister [[Jean Chrétien]], who, at the time of Trudeau's death, was on his way to Jamaica and immediately returned to Ottawa. [[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|Opposition Leader]] [[Stockwell Day]], [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] leader [[Joe Clark]] (a former prime minister), [[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]] leader [[Alexa McDonough]], and [[Bloc Québécois]] leader [[Gilles Duceppe]] followed, as did [[Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada|Speaker of the House of Commons]] [[Gilbert Parent]]. Members of Parliament paid tribute to Trudeau, many wearing roses, before the house adjourned out of respect.
[[President of Cuba|Cuban President]] [[Fidel Castro]] announced three days of [[National day of mourning|national mourning]] with flags half-masted as a sign of respect.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montrealers-pay-their-respects-to-trudeau-1.212581|title=Montrealers pay their respects to Trudeau|website=[[CBC News]]|access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref>
==Parliament Hill events==
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On September 30, the state funeral events began. Trudeau's casket was flown to Ottawa on a [[Canadian Forces]] jet. On arrival, it was driven by hearse in a simple procession through the nation's capital to Parliament Hill.
As the casket arrived on the Hill, the Peace Tower bell tolled 81 times, one for each year of Trudeau's life (Trudeau died just three weeks short of his 81st birthday).
===Lying in state===
Trudeau's casket was carried by a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] [[guard of honour]] into the Hall of Honour in Parliament Hill's [[Centre Block]] to [[lie in state]]. His family spent about 15 minutes alone with the casket, away from the press. Governor General [[Adrienne Clarkson]] and her husband, [[John Ralston Saul]], and Chrétien and his wife, [[Aline Chrétien|Aline]], then paid their respects.
Over the next hour dignitaries, including [[Senate of Canada|senators]], Members of Parliament, and the diplomatic corps viewed the casket of the former prime minister.
===Public viewing===
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After the dignitaries paid their respects, the doors of Parliament Hill's Centre Block were opened to citizens waiting outside. A constant stream of people, some waiting as long as seven hours, passed Trudeau's casket as it lay in the Hall of Honour. Many also brought roses—a Trudeau signature—to place around the Centennial Flame at the foot of Centre Block.
About 60,000 people passed Trudeau's casket while it lay in state. Trudeau's ex-wife, Margaret, was one.
===Final tributes===
The final tributes in Ottawa happened on October 2. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and other dignitaries paid their final respects. A [[19-gun salute]] was fired when Trudeau's casket exited the building. The [[Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces|Canadian Forces Central Band]] played the [[O Canada|national anthem]].
In the cortege were Trudeau's sons, the Prime Minister and his wife, and close friends. The band played "[[Auld Lang Syne]]" as the cortege left Parliament Hill.
==Journey to Montreal==
Crowds lined the route of the cortege as it made its way to the Ottawa train station, where the casket was placed aboard a [[Via Rail|VIA]] train that would take it from Ottawa to Montreal.
===Train ride===
The rail lines that had brought Trudeau to Ottawa 35 years earlier as a politician now took his body back home to Montreal. Prime Minister Chrétien and his wife watched a special [[Via Rail Canada|Via Rail]] passenger train as it departed the [[Ottawa Train Station]] with Trudeau's casket placed in the lower lounge of the observation car ''Yoho Park''. Onlookers applauded, sang the national anthem or both.
Trudeau's sons asked that the train be slowed along its route through the towns and farmlands of eastern Ontario so that citizens would have the opportunity to pay their respects.
===Montreal===
On arrival in Montreal, Trudeau's casket was taken to City Hall, where about 15,000 people paid their respects.
==State funeral==
The official state funeral was held at [[Montreal]]'s Notre-Dame Basilica on October 3, 2000.
The day began at City Hall. Trudeau's family spent some moments alone with his casket before it was removed and driven to the Basilica, surrounded by an escort of ten RCMP officers. Along the route, some clapped, while others wept, waved Canadian flags or simply stood silently as Trudeau made his final journey through his native Montreal.
===Funeral service===
[[File:Trudeau family mausoleum in Saint-Remi-de-Napierville.jpg|thumb|Trudeau family crypt|alt=Building constructed of grey granite blocks, adorned with a cross above a metal door, and with plaques with names inscribed]]
About 3,000 people gathered inside the Basilica for the service, including [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|the Duke of York]], then-[[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Adrienne Clarkson]], then-[[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] Jean Chrétien, and other Canadian leaders (including Trudeau's one-time rival [[Joe Clark]]). Former Prime Ministers [[John Turner]] and [[Brian Mulroney]] also attended. Foreign dignitaries included:
*{{flag|Cuba}}: Cuban President [[Fidel Castro]]<ref name="fidel">{{cite web |title=Fidel Bids Farewell to Pierre Trudeau |url=http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/ccn/info/CommunitySupport/NSCUBA/Pierre_Trudeau.html |website=Nova Scotia-Cuba Organization |accessdate=14 February 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303171659/http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/ccn/info/CommunitySupport/NSCUBA/Pierre_Trudeau.html |archivedate=3 March 2017 |date=3 October 2000}}</ref>
*{{Flag|United Kingdom}}: Prince [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Andrew]]
*{{flag|United States of America}}: former [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Jimmy Carter]]
*{{flag|Greece}}: [[Greek President]] [[Konstantinos Stephanopoulos]]
Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, and the [[Aga Khan IV|Aga Khan]], were honorary pallbearers together with [[Leonard Cohen]] and Trudeau's cabinet colleague [[Marc Lalonde]]. Several thousand people congregated outside the Basilica to watch the funeral on giant screens.
As the casket entered the basilica, the choir sang [[J.S. Bach]]'s "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Then the Archbishop of Montreal, [[Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte]], gave the invocation. [[Alexandre Trudeau|Sacha Trudeau]] gave a reading followed by [[Gounod]]'s "Ave Maria".
After the readings, eulogies were delivered by Trudeau's friends [[Roy Heenan]] and former Senator [[Jacques Hébert (Canadian politician)|Jacques Hébert]]; and then, memorably, by Trudeau's eldest son [[Justin Trudeau|Justin]], whose moving tribute to his father reduced many listeners to tears. Justin's eulogy, in English and French, concluded with the words, "Je t'aime, papa ("I love you, dad"), followed by spontaneous applause from the audience before he laid his head on his father's casket and wept.<ref>{{cite news| last1=Trudeau| first1=Justin| title=Je t'aime, Papa: Justin Trudeau's eulogy to his father| url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/jetaimepapa-justin-trudeaus-2000-eulogy/article26923529/| accessdate=July 30, 2020| newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]| location=[[Toronto]]| date=October 23, 2015| quote=This speech first appeared in ''The Globe and Mail'' on Oct. 4, 2000, the day after Justin Trudeau delivered his eulogy at the state funeral for his father, Pierre Trudeau, at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.}}</ref>
After the service, which concluded with the singing of the national anthem, the casket was brought out of the Basilica and placed in the hearse for the trip to the St-Remi-de-Napierville Cemetery for burial in the Trudeau family plot. Only Trudeau's immediate family was present for the [[interment]].
==Newsmaker of the Year==
The overwhelming reaction to Trudeau's death was on the minds of many Canadian newspaper editors and it named Trudeau "[[Canadian Newsmaker of the Year|Newsmaker of the Year]]" in the year 2000. It was the 10th time he received the honour by the Canadian news agency, [[Canadian Press]] (CP), surpassing his predecessor, [[Lester B. Pearson]].
Like their father after he was named "Newsmaker of the 20th Century" a year earlier, the Trudeau sons declined to give interviews with the CP, but they said that they were "very honoured" by the choice.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
* "Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1919–2000," a video by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]
==External links==
*[http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/2000-justin-trudeau-delivers-eulogy-for-his-father-pierre Justin Trudeau delivers eulogy for his father Pierre]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010504024758/http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/canadamourns CBC Coverage of the Passing of Pierre Trudeau]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050408160428/http://popups.ctv.ca/content/publish/popups/trudeau/frameset.htm CTV Coverage of the Passing of Pierre Trudeau]
*[http://ship-of-fools.com/Mystery/2001/261Mystery.html Detailed account of the funeral liturgy at the Basilica of Our Lady, Montreal in ''Ship of Fools'']
{{Pierre Trudeau}}
[[Category:2000 in Canada]]
[[Category:Pierre Trudeau]]
[[Category:Deaths by person in Canada|Trudeau, Pierre]]
[[Category:State funerals in Canada|Trudeau, Pierre]]
[[Category:Deaths and funerals of politicians|Trudeau, Pierre]]
[[fr:Pierre Elliott Trudeau#Mort]]