Trudeau mourned by Canadians, hailed by Castro as statesman

Thousands gathered Tuesday in Montreal for the funeral of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau

MONTREAL, Canada (AP) -- The coffin of Pierre Trudeau, the flamboyant prime minister who kept Canada united and propelled it onto the world stage, was carried by Mounties in scarlet tunics into Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica for his state funeral Tuesday as a plane trailing a giant Canadian flag flew overhead.

Thousands of Canadians who couldn't get into the 2,700-seat Roman Catholic church burst into applause as the bells of the ornate 19th century basilica peeled for a man described as the greatest Canadian of the 20th century by the nation's current prime minister, Jean Chretien.

The funeral, broadcast live across Canada, capped five days of emotional outpouring by ordinary Canadians and world leaders led by Cuban President Fidel Castro for the late prime minister, who instilled pride in his people and left a living legacy of a modern, bilingual, multicultural nation.

VIDEO Watch highlights of Trudeau's funeral service Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Castro mourns for Trudeau, who stood up for him

Castro hailed Trudeau, the first NATO leader to visit Cuba, as a "world-class statesman."

When the aging communist leader arrived at the basilica for Tuesday's funeral, crowds shouted "Viva Fidel!" A few moments earlier, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who often sparred with Trudeau while both were in power, arrived.

"He was the first person I invited to the White House after I was elected," Carter said. "He gave me some good advice."

Paula Van Den Bosch, 27, who grew up in the 1970s and '80s when Trudeau led the country, said simply, "he's an icon for me."

Trudeau, who suffered from Parkinson's disease and died of prostate cancer last Thursday at the age of 80, was to be buried privately after the state funeral at the basilica, which strongly resembles its Paris namesake.

Montreal's Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte presided over the funeral.

Trudeau's sons, Justin and Sacha, both wore red roses, their father's trademark. Trudeau's daughter, Sarah, whom he fathered at the age of 71, made a rare appearance with her mother, constitutional lawyer Deborah Coyne.

Trudeau's former wife, Margaret, made no effort to mask her sobs from the back of a limousine carrying her and her sons to Notre-Dame. Her son Justin embraced her before the two followed Trudeau's body up the steps and into the basilica.

On Monday, she collapsed when reminded by a reporter in Ottawa that it would have been the birthday of her youngest son with Trudeau, Michel, who died in 1998 in a skiing accident.

Trudeau swept to power in 1968, the height of the so-called Swinging Sixties, on a wave of support nicknamed "Trudeaumania." His charisma was reminiscent of another young, dashing politician who had captivated the United States when he became president eight years earlier in 1960 -- John F. Kennedy.

What made Trudeau such a sensation was that he completely shattered the Canadian image at the time, which was stodgy and understated. The new prime minister liked sports cars and action sports -- last winter was the first since his childhood that he didn't go skiing. He dated stars like Barbra Streisand and Margot Kidder. And at age 51, he married Margaret Sinclair, a "flower child" who was just 21.

Trudeau had been a leftist lawyer and professor of constitutional law before becoming prime minister, and when he took power he pushed through major social changes -- making divorce easier, relaxing laws on abortion and homosexuality, tightening gun control and expanding social welfare.

But his two greatest legacies, according to most commentators, were his successful campaign against Quebec separatism -- and his successful fight to give Canada, not Britain, total responsibility for the country's constitution. The new constitution included a new Canadian charter of rights and freedoms.

Internationally, Trudeau adopted a foreign policy independent of the United States and Britain, which was called the "Third Way." He recognized communist China long before the United States did. He supported nuclear disarmament and aligned himself with socialist leaders, including Germany's Willy Brandt and Sweden's Olof Palme.

Trudeau and Castro took to each other from their first meeting in Cuba in 1976, which broke Castro's isolation and ruffled U.S. feathers. The two leaders saw each other regularly until well after Trudeau had left politics.

Mark Entwistle, Canadian ambassador to Cuba between 1993 and 1997, remembered sitting at the dinner table with the two men as they talked the nights away -- "intellectual soul mates, definitely."

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Government of Canada
PM Chronological Biography:Pierre Elliot Trudeau

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