Colleagues salute former premier Landry as stalwart of PQ and independence cause
A cortège arrived at the Quebec legislature on Saturday, placing former Quebec premier Bernard Landry’s casket in the Red Room for the first of two days of lying in state. Despite bad weather, Quebecers went in large numbers to pay their final respects between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Premier François Legault and his wife, Isabelle Brais, were among the first dignitaries to do so. Many others walked past the casket, draped in the Quebec flag, before stopping to offer their condolences to Landry’s widow, Chantal Renaud, and Landry’s children, Julie, Philippe and Pascale, from his first marriage to former judge Lorraine Laporte, who died in 1999. Landry, who died on Tuesday from complications of a pulmonary disease at the age of 81, will next lie in state in Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica on Monday. A state funeral for the former premier will be held in the basilica on Tuesday starting at 2 p.m. Landry’s political career was closely tied to the history of the Parti Québécois over 50 years. An ardent supporter of Quebec independence, Landry held several provincial cabinet positions and was premier from 2001 to 2003. Legault, who served with Landry in the PQ for years, spoke to reporters Saturday about how Landry influenced his own career in politics. Legault also called Landry a statesman. “Mr. Landry said it often: ‘Party before men, homeland before party’,” Legault said. “And I often saw him applying these two phrases. For him, it was always important to carry out the public good ahead of partisan interest. (He was) really a man of duty.” The premier said Quebec will have to honour Landry’s memory, but it’s too soon to announce how that will be done. The PQ’s interim leader, Pascal Bérubé, also spoke of the importance of Landry’s contributions to Quebec’s development over decades, a legacy that the next generations will have to put to use. “His spirit moves us,” Bérubé said. “We’re turned to the future carrying his legacy as something very precious.” Bérubé also called Landry, who led the PQ from 2001 to 2005, a “giant” and “a man larger than life” when his accomplishments and their importance are listed. Bérubé also called on those who believe in Quebec sovereignty to unite. Quebec flags have been ordered to fly at half staff until Tuesday’s funeral service.