Montrealers pay final respects to ex-mayor Jean Dore at secular service

MONTREAL – Jean Dore’s friends and family as well as politicians of various stripes paid their final respects Monday to the former Montreal mayor who was credited with making city hall more democratic and accessible to citizens.

City hall was filled to capacity for Dore’s secular funeral, while other well-wishers watched the ceremony on a giant screen outside.

Ex-premier Pauline Marois lauded Dore’s work on behalf of women, noting he named the first female president of the city’s executive council.

“It is important for me, this morning, to come and say a final goodbye to Jean Dore,” she said before the ceremony. “He brought democracy here to city hall. And he did something else important: He believed in women playing a role in our institutions.”

Dore became Montreal’s 39th mayor in 1986 and served two terms, until 1994.

The man who ended Dore’s dream of a third term, ex-mayor Pierre Bourque, also paid tribute to his former opponent.

“He did a lot for Montreal,” Bourque said. “He brought with him a new way of seeing things, another way to govern the city.”

Dore is credited with democratizing and decentralizing municipal authority by giving more power to districts.

Alain Simard, founder of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, said Dore should also be remembered for his leadership and vision for the arts.

He said the festival’s current success is in large part thanks to Dore, who believed in it from the beginning.

Mayor Denis Coderre, deputy premier Lise Theriault, Parti Quebecois Leader Pierre Karl Peladeau and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe were also on hand for the ceremony.

Dore was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in 2014 and died June 15. He was 70.