Roméo mourned, celebrated today
Published Friday July 3rd, 2009
State funeral to be held today at Saint Thomas Church
MEMRAMCOOK - Acadians, New Brunswickers and Canadians have come to Memramcook to remember a man who never forgot them no matter what heights he reached.
A state funeral for Canada's first Acadian and Atlantic Canadian governor general, Roméo LeBlanc, will begin at 11 a.m. today at Saint Thomas Church, the oldest Acadian parish in New Brunswick nestled in the cradle of the Acadian Renaissance.
Throngs of mourners filed through the Memramcook Institute yesterday to pay their respects to LeBlanc, sign a book of condolences, and trade memories of his days as a journalist, educator, MP, fisheries minister, senator, governor general, and father.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the lying-in-state as an honour guard stood unflinching around the flag-covered casket.
As mourners walked toward the casket in the chapel, there was a sense they could feel the historic significance of the moments spent honouring a man who possessed such a strong respect and understanding of history.
The chapel in which the lying-in-state was held had escaped the terrible fire of 1933 that destroyed the old college next door, and sits proudly in an institution that provided the educational tools used by LeBlanc and many others to achieve excellence despite humble beginnings.
LeBlanc's son, Dominic, said he marveled at the tales shared yesterday at the very site where his father held a state dinner during the 1999 Sommet de la Francophonie.
"It is an emotional day, but it is a reassuring day," said Dominic LeBlanc, the MP for Beauséjour.
Huberte Boissonnault, who grew up in Moncton and now lives in Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia, said it was important for her to make her way to Memramcook yesterday to pay her respects to Roméo LeBlanc.
She knew him when he was a young reporter at the Evangeline newspaper.
"I always admired Mr. LeBlanc, you could see he had something special" said Boissonnault.
"He always stayed close to the people, especially us Acadians."
Albert Leger of Cocagne didn't know LeBlanc personally, but he insisted on paying his respects yesterday.
"We always voted for him," he said simply.
"He worked for the people and he did lots for the fishermen."
Father Robert Allain, of the parishes of Richibucto, Richibucto-Village, and Saint-Charles, said LeBlanc is remembered as a great man, but also a man of compassion.
"People are talking a lot about Roméo today, and mourning their loss," he said.
"Today we cry for Romeo, literally."
He said LeBlanc was a man who made gestures large and small to help people and make them feel comfortable.
Allain said the relationship between LeBlanc and those he knew, or simply represented, never changed even as he battled illness at the end of his life.
"That affection is very present today and people will be seated in front of their televisions (today)."
A Department of National Defence Airbus will transport 196 friends and former colleagues of LeBlanc from Ottawa to Moncton early this morning. They will be among the more than 1,000 mourners at Saint Thomas Church, and countless more who will watch the procession and funeral on television.
About 600 spots will be available to the general public on a first-come first-served basis today for the 11 a.m. funeral at the Saint Thomas Church. Canadian Heritage officials have asked that everyone be seated in the church by 10:30 a.m., and note that the streets surrounding the vicinity of the church and the Memramcook Institute will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It is recommended to arrive at the church at least an hour early.
About 375 extra seats will available at the Monument Lefebvre where the mass will be presented on a large screen.
The funeral procession will leave the Memramcook Institute this morning at 10:30 a.m. and will include a military band and 100-man guard, LeBlanc's family, Governor General Michaëlle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, clergy, pallbearers and honorary pallbearers.
It will travel about 500 metres along a route lined by fisheries officers -- in honour LeBlanc's iconic impact on the fishing industry -- before arriving at the church.
Once the prime minister, governor general, and clergy have taken their seats, the honorary pallbearers will take their positions as the military pallbearers carry the casket from the hearse, and the honour guard presents arms.
The casket will then be moved to the back of the church, and the service will begin.
The Catholic mass will be lead by Mgr. André Richard, the Archbishop of Moncton, in French and English by a respective proportion of 75 per cent to 25 per cent.
Two long-time friends of LeBlanc, former prime minister Jean Chrétien and Naomi Griffiths, a former dean of Arts at Carleton University who is writing a book about LeBlanc's life, will each give speeches.
The mass is expected to last about an hour and 10 minutes. Once it finishes, the RCMP escort, the 100-man guard, the band and the hearse will be in position for the final honours, when Governor General Michaëlle Jean will present the Canadian Flag and ensignia to LeBlanc's family. Then the Last Post and the Rouse will be sounded. After 10 seconds of silence, the 21-gun salute commences.
Advisories have been distributed to warn local residents of the startling noise that will be made around 12:30 p.m.
The committal ceremony will be held in private.
The president of l'Université de Moncton, Yvon Fontaine, said LeBlanc had a major influence on the university and on himself personally.
"I've known him for 35 years. I remember when I was still a student in Saint-Louis de Kent and he would come visit the school," he said.
"I had many times the privilege of dealing with him on a professional basis when he was in politics and, after that, he became chancellor of our university after he served as governor general."
Fontaine said LeBlanc's presence as chancellor raised the profile of the university and provided an unparalleled vote of confidence. He said he was impressed at how happy people were to see him throughout the province.
"I think it was reciprocal," he added.
Dominic LeBlanc said he received calls from far and wide yesterday, from people like Morley Safer, the 60 Minutes correspondent who worked with his father in the United States. But he also relished the chance to speak to family members and friends about their memories of his father.
He said he is touched that his father's legacy lives on even three decades after he left everyday politics.
"It warms my heart to think my father still has an impact on them."
Dominic said he was happy to see people from across the country whom he and his sister had the opportunity to meet when they would follow Roméo on business trips as kids.
"It gave a chance for my sister and I to discover the country and spend quality time with him."
He said his father never forgot his humble beginnings.
"The Holy Cross fathers who ran the college behind us accepted two cords of wood as a downpayment on tuition for my father to continue studying in college," he said.
"The family didn't have the money to pay tuition all in one shot, so I guess the promise of enough wood to heat the college behind us during the winter became the way my father could pay for university. He certainly never forgot that."
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