Ottawa (Mar 22) – The state funeral for former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney will begin at 11 am on Saturday, March 23 at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal (110 Notre-Dame Street West), in Montréal.
Prior to the ceremony, a funeral cortege, including a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) mounted escort, a Canadian Armed Forces escort and guard of honour, the Royal Canadian Air Force Band, and RCMP pallbearers, will make its way to the Montreal Basilica.
The ceremony will feature religious components led by The Most Reverend Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montréal, concelebrated by Miguel Castellanos, PSS, rector of Notre-Dame Basilica, and Reverend Monsignor Francis Coyle, CSS, pastor of Saint Patrick’s Basilica. This will include prayers, readings, hymns and a communion.
Eulogies will be offered by Caroline Mulroney, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Karl Péladeau, Wayne Gretzky, James Baker and Jean Charest.
During the ceremony, musical interludes will be performed by members of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and the OSM Chorus, led by internationally renowned conductor Rafael Payare. Canadian artists including The Tenors, Marc Hervieux, Marie-Josée Lord, and Elizabeth Theodora Lapham, granddaughter of the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, will also perform. Some of the performances will be accompanied by Scott Price on the piano.
A 19-gun salute will be conducted at the end of the ceremony from the Clock Tower Pier in the Old Port of Montréal.
Mulroney who passed away on February 29 is currently lying in repose at Saint Patrick’s Basilica (460 René-Lévesque Blvd West) in Montréal. Members of the public will be able to visit and pay their respects from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, Friday, March 22.
The funeral cortege and the ceremony will be broadcast live from Montréal on Canadian Heritage’s YouTube channel as well as CBC.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government at St. Francis Xavier University or to the Carrefour international Brian-Mulroney at Université Laval.
