Passion of Desmarais saluted
Business icon remembered by a who’s-who of Canadian politics
Business smarts made Paul Desmarais rich and powerful, but they barely got a mention at a commemoration ceremony in his honour at NotreDame Basilica.
Instead, his human qualities, artistic sensibilities and deep love of family were the recurring themes of Tuesday’s 90-minute tribute, which filled the Old Montreal church with heartfelt remembrance.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him,” said former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. “It will always be a source of pride for me to say I was his friend.”
Four Canadian prime ministers and five Quebec premiers were among those who attended a two-hour memorial for the business tycoon at the Notre-Dame Basilica. He died Oct. 8 at the age of 86.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and two of his predecessors, Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney, delivered eulogies for a man described as both a business titan and a humble, giving friend.
Former U.S. secretary of state James Baker called him “one truly beautiful human being,” and “proof what we call the American dream in our country has been alive and well in Canada.”
Baker, who served under former U.S. president George H.W. Bush (also a close friend of Desmarais), said “to know Paul was to admire Paul, cherish your relationship with him and, yes, to love him.” Sarkozy used similar words. “Nobody will forget your love of life,” he told a near-capacity house that included dignitaries from the worlds of business, politics and the arts. “Life left you so gently, like it wanted to give you time to prepare.”
Desmarais parlayed a struggling family bus operation in his hometown of Sudbury into eventual control of Power Corp., a diversified Montrealbased company that now has interests in financial, industrial and communications companies all over the world. Although he passed the reins of management to his sons Paul Jr. and André in 1996, he remained the controlling shareholder until his death.
Harper called him a visionary and builder with a remarkable personality punctuated by generosity, humour and a profound attachment to family.
“He was open, frank and completely unpretentious,” Harper said, adding that Desmarais loved to talk about Canada, “a country he loved with energy and passion.”
Mulroney remembered Desmarais as a lively, cultured, inspiring man, loyal to friends in good times and bad, with a vast knowledge of music, history and architecture, able to converse as easily with labourers as with the queen of England.
“Every day with Paul was a good day, and I had hundreds of them,” he said. “The time has come to say goodbye to a model of Canadian success. Salut mon Paul, salut et merci pour tout.”
Chrétien recalled putting in a call to Desmarais — who had been introduced by a mutual friend — after getting an appointment in the federal Finance department and realizing he knew few people in the top rungs of Canadian business.
Within 48 hours, Chrétien was dining with the president of the Royal Bank.
Desmarais was “an incredible character,” said Chrétien, whose daughter France married Desmarais’s son André.
Tuesday’s crowd of political and business heavyweights also included Quebec Premier Pauline Marois and her predecessors Daniel Johnson, Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Landry and Jean Charest.
Also present were former prime minister Paul Martin, ex-media mogul Conrad Black, former Bombardier president Laurent Beaudoin, ex-Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, former federal Liberal leader Bob Rae and his successor, Justin Trudeau.