Canadian elite mourn billionaire Desmarais

AFP/Toronto

Four Canadian prime ministers and two governors general, French former president Nicolas Sarkozy, US former secretary of State James Baker, disgraced media mogul Conrad Black and Belgianbnaire Albert Frere were among dignitaries gathered for the memorial.

“At the helm of one of the largest commercial empires in Canada, Paul Desmarais will be remembered as a visionary and a builder,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at Montreal’s Notre Dame Basilica.

He said Desmarais was an inspiration to Canadian francophones, foresaw the rise of China, and understood early the importance of European unity.

Harper said Desmarais was preoccupied with “his country, Canada, its uniqueness, its prosperity, its challenges, its unity”.

“Paul Desmarais’s business empire had long outgrown the frontiers of our dominion but Canada remained his largest passion. He was a proud Canadian,” he said.

France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy said, “Paul, I love you, I admire you.”

“Paul, by leaving us you have created a void, your absence is hard on us,” he added.

Desmarais died on October 9 at age 86.

The self-made billionaire transformed an ailing backwoods bus company in northern Ontario into a $271bn global conglomerate.

The white-haired billionaire known for his deal-making skills was a private man.

But behind the scenes he sought to shape Canada and beyond, including as the head of Montreal-based investment holding company Power Corp from 1968 to 1996, managing a portfolio that included insurance firms London Life and Great-West Life, European cement giant Lafarge, oil company Total and wine and spirits maker Pernod Ricard.

Former Canadian prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin both worked for Power Corp early in their business careers, and Desmarais’s son Andre is married to former prime minister Jean Chretien’s daughter France.

In 2007, after Sarkozy was elected French president, he awarded Desmarais with the Legion d’Honneur, an order of merit established by Napoleon in 1802. At the ceremony, Sarkozy said: “If I am the president of France today, it is thanks in part to the advice of, the friendship and loyalty of Paul Desmarais.”

With an estimated net worth of $4.5bn, Desmarais was ranked by Forbes magazine as Canada’s fourth richest man and 235th in the world.

He handed over day to day management of Power Corp in 1996 to his two sons Paul Jr. and Andre but many have said he still played an active decision-making role in the firm.

He also left behind his wife Jacqueline and two daughters Louise and Sophie.