Lougheed a titan who put family first
CALGARY – Peter Lougheed was memorialized Friday as a political titan, a staunch defender of Alberta who ultimately transcended the province’s boundaries to become a leader on the national stage.
But the former Alberta premier, who died last week at the age of 84, was also remembered as a man — a friend, colleague, husband and father full of generosity and kindness.
The state memorial at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium saw Lougheed eulogized by leaders such as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Alison Redford, but also those closest to him, including his eldest son Stephen.
“My dad was always a team player. And the team that he was most proud of was his home team, his family — starting with mom,” Stephen Lougheed said of his mother Jeanne, Lougheed’s wife of 60 years.
Alberta’s 10th premier spent 20 years in politics and 14 years as premier, a period from 1971-85, when the province transformed into an economic and political powerhouse within Canada.
But Stephen Lougheed said throughout that time — and a hectic post-political career that lasted up until a few weeks ago — his father had always made time for each of his four children.
In a video tribute, rare photos of Lougheed and his family flashed on screen. Lougheed said his father would spend hours playing baseball or football with his children and only displayed any anger if they engaged in defeatism or character attacks.
Some of the former premier’s last words were a reminder about a family birthday.
“He was always a stickler to, you know, look after us — and make sure that we looked after each other.”
Nearly 2,300 people filled a hall packed with dignitaries including former and current provincial leaders such as Quebec’s Jean Charest, Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall, Roy Romanow and Grant Devine, New Brunswick’s Frank McKenna and Ontario’s David Peterson.
Past and present Alberta MLAs and cabinet ministers packed the auditorium, along with federal ministers Jason Kenney, Rona Ambrose and Peter MacKay.
“Every single one of us woke up this morning in Peter Lougheed’s Alberta,” Redford said. “It was the Alberta of which he dreamed and it was the dream he was able to make real. He knew this province better than anyone.
“Alberta was his heart, his passion and his ambition.”
Redford remembered how she first met Lougheed as a 16-year-old party member and how, years later, he phoned her after she won the Tory leadership last year.
“Before offering advice, he said five simple words — ‘You are now my leader.’ That gesture was truly humbling,” said Redford, who said Lougheed would “always” be her leader.
Lougheed’s tenure saw such landmarks as the creation of the Heritage Fund, the development of the oilsands and the wholesale expansion of the province’s cultural life.
But those at the memorial said his impact was huge on the country as a whole.
Making a surprise appearance at the memorial, Newfoundland-born pundit Rex Murphy said Lougheed was a “fierce and undaunted” champion of Alberta who came to symbolize the province.
It was Lougheed’s exemplary personality and vision that enhanced all of the country, Murphy said.
“The idea of modern Alberta … the idea of the West on the rise, of being more fully a participant player in the high councils of our great confederation, is simply unthinkable without the example and the deeds of Peter Lougheed.”
Former prime minister Joe Clark said Lougheed’s great talent was to recognize the skills and the talents of others, and to mobilize them.
Clark said in 1975 and ’76, he tried to persuade Lougheed to run for the leadership of the federal Conservative party, to no avail.
Former Tory cabinet minister Jim Dinning, who learned the political ropes as a deputy minister in Lougheed’s government, said in his eulogy the former premier was unwaveringly loyal, self-disciplined and “lived his life on purpose and rarely did things by accident. He had so much he wanted to do and so little time to pack it all in.”
Dinning said Lougheed, in the 27 years after he left politics, never shied away from saying what he thought, even if it was unpopular.
“In 2005, he called for oilsands development to slow down in the province of Alberta. About upgrading bitumen, he said ‘Do more here,’ ” Dinning said.
Dinning said Lougheed never really stopped being Alberta’s premier, even after he quit politics in 1985. Going forward, he said, provincial leaders facing a tough decision should pause and think: “What would Peter Lougheed do?”
Harper gave the final speech of the service, speaking with reverence about Lougheed’s battle with the federal government in the early 1980s over the National Energy Program.
“At the time, Premier Lougheed’s leadership in that fight was, outside of this province, anything but universally admired. His motives were often questioned, his patriotism frequently attacked. And I can tell you, when and where I grew up, the term blueeyed sheik was not meant as a compliment,” said Harper, who was born in Ontario. “But Peter Lougheed did not shrink from that fight. He embraced it.”
Each speaker at the memorial spoke directly to Lougheed’s wife Jeanne, and children and grandchildren, and thanked them for sharing Lougheed with the province.
After a rendition of George Gershwin’s Someone to Watch Over Me by former senator Tommy Banks, a pianist, and trumpet soloist Jens Lindemann, master of ceremonies Lee Richardson said: “Jeanne, that was for you.”