Read Wayne Gretzky’s eulogy at Brian Mulroney’s funeral

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Former prime minister Brian Mulroney was eulogized on Saturday at a state funeral at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal by his daughter Caroline Mulroney, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

Read Gretzky’s entire eulogy below.

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“Good afternoon. We’ve had so many wonderful speakers, you’re going to figure out who’s in politics and which guy is a hockey player real quick.

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“I got to meet the prime minister in 1984 when he became the Conservative leader and a couple years later he called me and he said, ‘Young man, my beautiful wife, wife Mila wants to have this charity hockey game in Ottawa.’ And I said, ‘Of course, what’s it for?’ And he said, ’65 Roses.’

“I said, ‘I’ve heard a lot of charities but I’ve never heard that name.’ He said, ‘No, (Mila) changed the name so kids will understand it a lot easier.’ So I said, ‘Of course we’ll play.’

“So we go to Ottawa and the game itself was wonderful because we raised a lot of money and a lot of awareness. But we were so excited to go to 24 Sussex. I’m like, ‘This is incredible. We’re going to, I guess, the biggest house in the country.’ And they were so nice, the family, they hosted us.

“And then a year later, I’m playing in the Canada Cup. Now, in those days east and west was a big rivalry. And that afternoon, his chief of staff called me, game three, I was staying with my mum and dad, my wife, Janet, and he said the prime minister wants to call you and I said ‘Absolutely.’ So the phone rang and I turned to my dad and I said, ‘you pick up the phone.’

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“So my dad picks up the phone. Now he’s talking, talking, talking, and I’m like, ‘okay,’ and he (finally) hands me the phone. And the prime minister says, obviously, ‘I’m wishing you good luck, son. I hope you guys do well.’ I hang up the phone and my dad said, ‘can you imagine? The prime minister of Canada called me?’ I said ‘I don’t think he called you.’ He goes, ‘No, no, I talked to him.’ So we had to wait 15 minutes because he had to call his mother and tell her that he talked to the prime minister. So that’s how proud of a Canadian he was.

“Years later, we’re at a wedding. We had the good fortune of sitting with Mila and the prime minister, Janet and I. We’re at this table and all of a sudden all these Canadians were flocking over to sit with us, which was really nice. And the prime minister kept looking at us saying ‘you know, I’m going to sing tonight’ because he loved to sing. ‘I’m gonna sing tonight.’ And then he goes ‘young man, remember 1993? That was a great victory for the Montreal Canadiens.’

“And I said, ‘Sure. I was on the other team. That wasn’t so great for me.’ He goes, ‘No, no, but it was wonderful for the country.’ I go, ‘Okay, great. Good for you.’

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“So, as he’s saying, ‘I want to sing tonight. I’m gonna sing’ Michael Buble sits down and I said to the prime minister, ‘He’s singing and you’re not.’ I said, ‘Now, we’re even.’

“But, we’re such a proud country and I relate everything to hockey. In politics and hockey, you fight, you battle, you drive. I’m so proud to be Canadian today, to see past prime ministers here, the current prime minister, that’s what our country is all about: coming together, being friendly, helping other people and paying respects. And Mr. Mulroney was one of the greatest prime ministers we’ve ever had. I always tell my friends around the world, whether it’s funerals, or weddings, we’d watch on TV and we’d always say, ‘you know what? We’re represented by Mila and Brian Mulroney. They make our country proud.’ Thank you.”

National Post

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