The flags at City of Timmins facilities are being lowered in memory of Brian Mulroney.
The 18th prime minister of Canada died yesterday (Feb. 29). He was 84.
The flags will be at half-mast until sunset on the day of the memorial service. Details of the service aren't known yet, but a state funeral is expected later this month.
During a news conference in Timmins this morning, Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Graydon Smith and Timmins MPP George Pirie sent their condolences to the Mulroney family and shared a few memories. Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau issued a statement this afternoon.
Smith and Pirie work with Mulroney's daughter, Caroline, at Queen's Park, where she's the York-Simcoe MPP and Minister of Francophone Affairs.
Mulroney had a profound impact on Smith when he was considering a career in politics.
One day, he and a friend decided to stand in front of 24 Sussex, which is the Prime Minister's residence.
"And out walk this gentleman, who had a big booming voice and said hello," recalled Smith. "And we stood and had a conversation on the sidewalk for 10 minutes. That's the kind of person that he was, just interested in everyone and made a true difference for Canada."
During Mulroney's political career, he made a "tremendous impact" on constitutional issues, free trade and on ending apartheid in South Africa, said Pirie.
In the coming days, Boileau said that the world will be looking back on Mulroney's legacy, commitment to public office and his tough decisions to move the nation forward.
"We remember a leader and statesman, one of Canada’s most prominent political figures, whose decisions as prime minister continue to have profound impact on our country,” says Mayor Michelle Boileau. “Mulroney was a visionary who believed that Canada could lead on climate change, reform trade, strengthen global relations, and champion human rights, at the time against apartheid in South Africa," she said in the statement.
Mulroney led the Progressive Conservative party in the 1980s and served as prime minister from 1984 to 1993.
As prime minister, he visited Timmins in the mid-80s.