MONTREAL — A handful of mourners gathered outside the security barrier surrounding Old Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica this morning, braving snow and frigid temperatures to pay respects to Brian Mulroney and get a glimpse of the former prime minister’s funeral ceremony.

Seventy-four-year-old Colleen Hawley said she travelled all the way from Amherst, N.S., to say goodbye to her favourite prime minister, a man she said she admired for his common sense and dedication to Canada.

She initially stood alone on the snow-covered street to the west of the basilica, saying she was determined to witness Mulroney’s funeral procession despite the weather and her increasingly damp sneakers.

A block away, 65-year-old Michel Morin took shelter from the snow inside a doorway across the street from the basilica hoping to watch the ceremony for Mulroney, a fellow Quebecer who Morin called the “little guy from our home.”

Nearby, 61-year-old Kathleen Girard tried to get a glimpse of some of the funeral’s high-profile attendees as they entered the basilica.

She came to Montreal from Plessisville, Que., for an unrelated event but said she respected what she described as Mulroney’s down-to-earth personality and selflessness.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press