Article content

10:10 a.m.

The bells are ringing at St. Patrick’s Basilica in Montreal as Brian Mulroney’s casket leaves the church.

Article content

The bells are silenced while the casket is placed into a vehicle by RCMP members in their ceremonial red serge uniforms.

The funeral cortege is now making its way from St. Patrick’s to Notre-Dame Basilica for the state funeral.

10 a.m.

Members of the Mulroney family have begun to arrive at St. Patrick’s Basilica to escort the former prime minister’s casket.

Article content

Brian’s wife, Mila, walked into the basilica with their four children and some of their grandchildren.

Members of the family proceeded up the centre aisle and gathered around the flag-draped casket at the front.

Members of the RCMP then picked up the casket, and gingerly carried it out of the church.

Inside the sanctuary at Notre-Dame Basilica, four large television screens are set up, showing intermittent scenes of inside and outside the church.

9:30 a.m.

A few hundred people are already milling about in the sanctuary of Notre-Dame Basilica in advance of the funeral’s 11 a.m. start.

They include former cabinet ministers Peter MacKay and Peter Van Loan, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

The singers are warming up inside.

Some people are already sitting, but many are mingling in the aisles as a steady buzz of crowd noise echoes off the high ceilings.

9 a.m.

The streets outside Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica are very snowy and quiet for a Saturday morning as people begin to arrive for the state funeral of former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

The guest list includes Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and a long list of current and former politicians.

Share this article in your social network



Source link montrealgazette.com