Pierre Trudeau was like a towering tree providing sustenance and shade for all Canadians, one of his sons told an international crowd at a state funeral Tuesday for the former prime minister.
The tree has been cut down, “but leave the stump and roots in the ground, bound with hoops of iron and bronze,” a composed Sacha Trudeau said as he read from the Bible in Notre-Dame Basilica.
Foreign dignitaries attending the service included Cuban President Fidel Castro, former president Jimmy Carter, Britain’s Prince Andrew, and the Aga Khan.
The funeral, broadcast live across Canada, capped five days of emotional outpouring by Canadians and world leaders for Trudeau, who left a living legacy of a modern, bilingual, multicultural nation.
Trudeau, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and died of prostate cancer last Thursday at age 80, was to be buried privately.
