Politicians, dignataries and celebrities joined members of the public Saturday at a state funera l to honor Brian Mulroney, one of Canada’s most consequential prime ministers who in the 1980s solidified trade ties with the U.S. and spoke out against South Africa’s apartheid. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former U.S. Secretary State James Baker as well as hockey great Wayne Gretzky were among the attendees at Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica. Mulroney, who died Feb.
The funeral follows four days of public tributes in Montreal and Ottawa during which political dignitaries and members of the public filed by Mulroney’s casket and paid their respects to his wife and four children. Mulroney had enduring friendships with former U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and eulogized both at their funerals. Reagan and Mulroney became friends as two national leaders during the last decade of the Cold War.