Nov.-Dec. 2000

Questions or comments? Email Editor Tony P. Fernandez at:
afernan@techie.com

Adieu, Pierre, Merci

(A Tribute to Pierre Elliot Trudeau)

By Tony P. Fernandez

MONTREAL - There was a long line of people queuing up on the stairway leading up to city hall to pay their last respects to the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, an extraordinary and brilliant man who perhaps more than anyone else confirmed Canada to be a bi-lingual and multicultural nation. When he died at age 80 on Sept. 28, 2000, Filipinos joined the nation to mourn his death.

   My wife Lina and I were among the people who went up the stairway in the early evening to express our personal sadness and to pay tribute to his legacy, which is, in the words of Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada “to confirm us in our understanding of what our nation is, and must be, to fulfill its original destiny.  For this, we will forever be grateful to him.”

   Prime Minister Jean Chrétien expressing his deep personal sadness spoke in the same vein saying “ PierreTrudeau dreamed of a society that afforded all of its citizens an equal opportunity to succeed in life -whatever their background or beliefs; whether rich or poor.”

   At last we came to the lobby marked with dignity and walked slowly in line awaiting our turn to approach the casket that stood on one side of the room draped in Canadian flag. My wife brought with her a clipping with a photo of Pierre Trudeau when he visited the Philippines-the first Canadian Prime Minister to do so. I looked about me and saw a cluster of photographers standing in a secluded spot. A man approached us and said: “It’s your turn”. My wife and I walked to the casket, bowed our heads in reverence and made the sign of the cross.

   I am not one to waste this opportunity of being in front of a great public figure in Canadian history. I reached out my hand and softly knocked on Pierre Trudeau’s casket and said, “ Adieu, Pierre, Merci.” As we looked the casket, my wife and I felt smothered in sadness imagining that we were in front of a revered and extraordinary figure whose death touched off the outpouring of public mourning for the things he has done for the country.

   Finally, a man indicated, “There are books of condolences for you to sign downstairs.” We joined most of the people who went downstairs to sign the book of condolences. It was our act to pay homage to this remarkable man. Obviously Pierre Trudeau is a hero of ours, for it was him that committed himself to Canada’s multiculturalism.

   On our way outside, we were requested to hold a large unity flag designed by a group of Montrealers headed by Donald Potter and Lincoln Gagnon who took up this idea of fashioning a unity flag suggested by Mr. Potter’s young son. We walked outside city hall carrying the unity flag and showing it to a long line of people,-among them teary immigrants- queuing to pay homage to Trudeau. “This is our way to show our unity as Canadians to which Pierre Trudeau committed himself so much,” Mr. Potter told the line of people standing a short distance from city hall.  They reacted by clapping. Several started singing O Canada throwing a congenial and delightful mood among the mourners.

   Trudeau’s death was also an opportunity for us to relive our youth as immigrants to this country, for thanks to his multicultural policies, Canada opened its doors to the whole world.

   And that’s why we mourn his passing and said our final goodbye. It was our pilgrimage of pain and respect.