Dignitaries expected to attend tribute in Montreal for Paul Desmarais

MONTREAL – Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy are expected to be among dignitaries who will pay tribute to business tycoon Paul Desmarais in Montreal this afternoon.

Others who will likely attend the commemorative ceremony at the Notre-Dame Basilica include former prime ministers Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.

Desmarais, who who took over a near-bankrupt family business to build a multibillion-dollar empire with political connections on different continents, died in October at the age of 86.

The Ontario-born businessman remained a staunch Canadian federalist after he moved to Quebec, where he became one of the country’s wealthiest and most powerful figures.

Sarkozy has admitted he owed much to Desmarais.

When Desmarais was awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2008, Sarkozy said he was president partly because of the Canadian’sadvice, friendship and loyalty.