'He loved this country with all his heart': Former prime minister Brian ...

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney — who steered the country through tumultuous times domestically and on the world stage — is being remembered today as a politician who made tough choices for the greater good at his state funeral in Montreal.

"He took risks and, by doing so, became one of those rarest of leaders — able to define an era as his own," former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who served in Mulroney's cabinet, told the crowd at Montreal's historic Notre-Dame Basilica.

"Here, now, at this very moment, we live in a world that he helped shape."

Mulroney, Canada's 18th prime minister from 1984 to 1993, died surrounded by his family in Florida on Feb. 29. He was 84. 

The first person to eulogize Mulroney was his daughter Caroline Mulroney, an Ontario cabinet minister.

"No one gave a speech like my dad," she said.

She remembered a father who, despite the constant pressures of his job, always made time for his family — Mila Mulroney, his wife of more than 50 years, and their four children.

He was a caring and attentive parent who later became a doting grandfather, she said.

Through tears, Caroline shared her father's last moments with those in the packed pews.

She said her mother laid her hands on his cheeks and asked, "Oh Brian, are you coming back to me?"

"His body was tired but his heart would not let us give him up. So Dad looked at Mom and, with what were his final words to her, he said, 'I plan to.'

"We are heartbroken by our loss. We adored him. I miss you, Daddy."

WATCH | Caroline Mulroney recalls last words shared by Brian and Mila Mulroney 

In her eulogy, Caroline Mulroney remembers her father's last day. 'His body was tired but his heart would not let him give us up.'

In his eulogy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Mulroney's most cherished victories weren't about partisan politics.

"Because he loved this country with all his heart. And he didn't just love Canada in the abstract sense. He loved Canadians," said Trudeau.

"He loved hearing their stories. He loved connecting with people. He was incredibly generous with everyone."

WATCH | Brian Mulroney's funeral will be a celebration of life, his son Mark Mulroney says 

In an interview with CBC News chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, Mark Mulroney says the week of remembrance for his father has been 'unbelievably beautiful.'

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky placed his hand on the casket before launching into his remarks.

"We've had so many wonderful speakers, you're going to figure out who's in politics and which guy is the hockey player real quick," he said to laughter.

Gretzky told stories about Mulroney, a man he met in 1984.

"We're such a proud country and I relate everything to hockey. And in politics, hockey, you fight, you battle, you drive," he said.

"I'm so proud to be a Canadian today, to see past prime ministers, 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."

The guest list is a who's-who of Canadian politics that brings together leading figures from the Conservative Party's past and present — including former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay, former prime minister Stephen Harper and current Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

They were joined by current and former premiers, including former Quebec premier and founder of the Bloc Québécois Lucien Bouchard. Once a close friend of Mulroney, the two men had a famous falling-out before reconciling just before Mulroney's death.

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds is on the guest list, along with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and the CEO of Mulroney's beloved Montreal Canadiens, Geoff Molson.

The list also includes some of Canada's most prominent business leaders, including Loblaw president Galen Weston Jr., former newspaper baron Conrad Black, oil magnate Arthur Irving and chairman of Rogers Communications Edward S. Rogers.

The funeral ceremony features prayers, readings, hymns and a communion being delivered by Archbishop of Montréal Christian Lépine and Miguel Castellanos, rector of Notre-Dame Basilica.

Mulroney will be remembered for doing 'big things': Trudeau 

A skilled politician and engaging speaker, Mulroney took on politics in a way that was both admired and attacked.

"Whether one agrees with our solutions or not, none will accuse us of having chosen to evade our responsibilities by side-stepping the most controversial issues of our time," Mulroney said in his February 1993 resignation address.

"I've done the very best for my country and my party."

Mulroney's efforts brought about the North American Free Trade Agreement, changing and deepening the economic relationship between Canada, the United States and Mexico. He continued to defend the integrity of the pact when it was reopened under U.S. President Donald Trump.

His government introduced some of the most successful environmental policies in Canadian history: the acid rain treaty to curb sulfur dioxide emissions and the Montreal Protocol.

"That showed that for Brian, the sky was not the limit. He led us with the ambition necessary to actually fix the sky," said Trudeau in his eulogy.

 WATCH | Former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney dead at 84 

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has died. He was 84. His daughter Caroline Mulroney shared the news Thursday afternoon on social media.

Mulroney's time in office coincided with a tumultuous period in world affairs, including the end of the Cold War and an international campaign against apartheid in South Africa — a racist caste system he fought against. 

On the home front, he tried to calm growing separatist sentiments in Quebec through the failed Meech Lake Accord — which would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" within Canada and would have extended greater powers to the provinces.

"It's a sad day for Canada. This was all about Canada, about the unity of our country," Mulroney said of the accord's defeat.

One of his most controversial moves in government was the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. He also stacked the Senate with supporters to get the deeply unpopular GST bill through the Liberal-dominated upper house.

"It is clearly not popular, but we're doing it because it's right for Canada. It must be done," Mulroney said of the tax in 1990.

While then-Liberal leader Jean Chretien campaigned to "axe the tax," the GST, which brings in billions of dollars in government revenue, remains on the books as a key revenue stream for the federal government.

WATCH | GG remembers Mulroney as 'visionary' despite complex relationship with Indigenous people 

Governor General Mary Simon gives a one-on-one interview with Power & Politics on her experiences working with Brian Mulroney. The former prime minister was ‘polarizing at time,’ Simon says, but she remembers him as an engaging and visionary leader.

Mulroney's mark on Canada was also shadowed by scandal.

In 1995, a leaked letter revealed that the RCMP had accused Mulroney of having taken kickbacks from Karlheinz Schreiber, a German-Canadian businessman and arms dealer, on the sale of Airbus airliners to Air Canada in the late 1980s. The airline was a Crown corporation at the time.

Mulroney sued the Liberal government and received an apology and damages in 1997.

But an inquiry into the affair revealed Mulroney accepted "cash-stuffed envelopes" from Schreiber totalling at least $225,000.

The inquiry concluded the former prime minister's dealings with Schreiber were "inappropriate" and unethical.

Mulroney called accepting the cash a "serious error in judgment" and "my second biggest mistake in life." The first, he said, "was ever agreeing to be introduced to Karlheinz Schreiber in the first place."

Later in life, he became an elder statesman and adviser to politicians of all stripes, always ready to pick up the phone and — in that unmistakable baritone — offer advice to the new generation.