Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Peter Lougheed leaving the Alberta Legislature Oct 11, 1985. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Buston

Prime Minister Stephen Harper lauded Peter Lougheed on Friday as a visionary and a statesman with the intelligence to wage a successful fight and the fortitude to see it through.

"He brought to the job intelligence, integrity, energy, a clear and practical sense of direction and an unwavering commitment to what he believed to be the wider public interest," Harper said at a public memorial for the former Alberta premier at Calgary's Jubilee Auditorium.

"Every place and every era have their leaders. They are confronted with the challenges of the events of the times in which they live. More often than not, these define them," Harper continued.

"However, a leader sometimes defines his own age and Peter Lougheed was that kind of leader."

Harper was among 2,400 dignitaries and citizens from across Canada who came to bid a final goodbye to Lougheed.

Lougheed, premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, died last week in hospital of natural causes. He was 84.

With Lougheed's wife, Jeanne, and four children looking on, Harper recalled Lougheed's epic battles with the federal government over oil resources in the 1970s and '80s.

"His motives (outside Alberta) were often questioned, his patriotism frequently attacked," said Harper. "But Peter Lougheed did not shrink from that fight. He embraced it.

"Peter Lougheed was always a proud Albertan and a fierce Canadian, understanding clearly that one part of Canada cannot succeed at the expense of another because our destiny is sown together in the fabric of this great nation."

Alberta Premier Alison Redford recalled the man she called a personal mentor and the transformative "architect of the province we all call home.

"Every single one of us woke up this morning in Peter's Lougheed's Alberta," said Redford.

"It was the Alberta of which he dreamed and it was the dream that he was able to make real."

Redford said that when she won the party leadership race last fall and became premier, Lougheed called her with congratulations.

"Before offering any advice (he) said five simple words: 'You are now my leader.' That gesture was truly humbling ... and it was one that I will remember for all of my life."

Another politician remembered Lougheed calling him at a less positive time in his political career. Jean Charest was one of only two federal Tories to keep their seats in the 1993 election.

"Where he was very significant for me in my life was when I became leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party after the debacle of 1993 and asked for his advice," said Charest, who was premier of Quebec until his defeat in this month's election there.

"He helped us out with some of the policy conferences," he said outside after the service. "Here was this giant of a leader who was respected throughout the country giving his time."

Stephen Lougheed, Lougheed's oldest son, told the mourners that he would always recall a devoted and doting father who would spend hours throwing a ball for his kids and grandchildren, and would go to football and baseball games.

"My dad was always a team player. And the team that he was most proud of was his home team, his family, starting with mom," said Stephen.

"I can tell you we will all miss him tremendously."