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Front Page Story

avoiding next funeral not so easy for Canadian Prime Minister

by Judi McLeod

June 14, 2004

The news sometimes jumps right into your lap when you’ve been scouting it elsewhere.

Never sure whether Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin was really rehearsing for next week’s TV debates on the day when many world leaders were bidding a sad farewell to U.S. Ex-President Ronald Reagan, Canadafreepress.com was checking Martin’s itinerary.

Discussing his possible whereabouts on the patio of the Devil’s advocate on Friday, associate editor arthur Weinreb spotted members of an RCMP special unit, then the heavily pictured Paul Martin bus. Within minutes, Liberal cameramen were setting up on the corner.

We asked a cameraman if Martin would be exiting the nearby Delta Inn, and they answered in the affirmative.

"Now we know why he’s not in Washington for the Reagan funeral," I announced to Weinreb.

"The federal election is more important than any funeral," the cameraman shot back.

"Now there’s a good quote," I told our summer journalism student, Lisa McFadyen.

Inside the Delta, Martin was addressing a crowd of about 300 people, members of the Women’s Executive Network.

"This election matters," Martin said in his address. "It matters because in fact the outcome will, I believe, make a real difference in your life and the life of this country…To those who may feel that all political parties are the same, I encourage you to become engaged, to listen to the exchange of ideas and to listen to the sound of the Canada that you want."

at the time of his noon hour speech, many average Canadians were listening to another sound: the doleful sound of funeral drums from the televised state funeral of Ronald Reagan.

While Martin was being roundly applauded by hundreds attending the Women’s Executive Network because of his stated promise to "defend a woman’s right to choose", in Washington former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was coaxing a rare smile from the grief-wreathed face of Nancy Reagan.

Mulroney’s eulogy took mourners back to a day in 1987 when he and Reagan were waiting for their wives in an Ottawa hangar. "You know, Brian," he recalled the president as saying, "for two Irishmen, we sure married up."

Delivering one of four eulogies, Mulroney was the first foreigner to render one at the state funeral of an american president.

Having coaxed the tenuous smile from the fragile 82-year-old widow with his anecdote, Mulroney went on to commend Reagan for inspiring his nation and transforming the world. "He possessed a rare and prized gift called leadership–that ineffable and magical quality that sets some men and women apart so that millions will follow them."

Martin’s staff made no apologies for his skipping the funeral to campaign, but only reiterated that Governor-General adrienne Clarkson represented Canada at the ceremony.

But with only two weeks before Canada’s federal election, the last thing Martin needed was the stark reminder that came with Mulroney’s charming eulogy. Reagan’s friend and ideological ally, Mulroney is reminiscent of a day when cooperation and courtesy not anti-americanism ruled the day.

Martin ducked the state funeral of a beloved president in exchange for the campaign on Friday.

Trailing at the polls, he may not be able to avoid the next funeral. The one expected for Liberals on June 28.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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