EDMONTON – Alberta Premier Alison Redford announced Friday she will return home early from a trade mission to China to be with those mourning the death of former premier Peter Lougheed.
The premier’s office said Redford wanted to be back in the province. She was supposed to return on Monday.
The announcement came as tributes continued to pour in for Lougheed, from coast to coast, from political leaders to people in the street.
Lougheed died Thursday from natural causes in a Calgary hospital that bears his name. He was 84.
Redford has praised Lougheed, whom she considered a mentor dating back to her earliest days in politics.
Lougheed governed Alberta from 1971 to 1985.
“He created a direction for Alberta that we can all be proud of today,” Redford said in a statement. “His forward-thinking, progressive vision gave us the tools to succeed today and helped to propel Alberta into a leadership role in Canada.”
On Friday, the wife of former Alberta premier Ralph Klein echoed the sentiment.
“While many others will speak over the coming days to premier Lougheed’s many contributions to Canada and Alberta, I can only speak to his kindness and to the personal relationship he shared with my husband,” said Colleen Klein in a statement.
“Ralph often reflected on their relationship built during the time they worked together as mayor of Calgary and premier of Alberta to bring the 1988 Olympic Winter Games to Calgary and make these games a tremendous success.”
Colleen spoke for the family, as Klein is battling a form of dementia.
She said Lougheed was also a mentor and sounding board for Klein, who was premier from 1992 to 2006 and took the province from the depths of low oil prices and big deficits to multibillion-dollar surpluses.
“When Ralph became premier, he and former premier Lougheed spoke on many occasions about the challenges they shared, and the Alberta they both wanted for Albertans,” she said.
“Ralph, like all Albertans, understood how Peter Lougheed put Alberta on the global map, so that others, like Ralph, could follow.”
Other leaders lauded Lougheed as a visionary who fought hard for Alberta’s rights, but who also advocated for a strong Canada.
“Today Canada lost a true renaissance man – a leader with vision and passion, and an undeniable legacy,” said B.C. Premier Christy Clark.
“His inspired leadership laid the foundation for Western Canada’s influence in Ottawa today.”
In Ottawa, Opposition NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said: “Peter Lougheed’s work and achievements for Albertans and all Canadians has left an indelible mark in our collective history and will be remembered by future generations.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement shortly after Lougheed’s death, calling his fellow Calgarian “quite simply one of the most remarkable Canadians of his generation.”
“A master politician, gifted lawyer, professional-calibre athlete and philanthropist, the former premier was instrumental in laying the foundation for the robust economic success that his cherished province of Alberta enjoys today,” Harper said.
Bill Smith, the president of Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party, reminded party members that all they have they owe to Lougheed.
Lougheed led the fledgling PC party to victory over the Social Credit government in 1971, followed by 11 more consecutive majority victories first under Lougheed, then premiers Don Getty, Klein, Ed Stemach and now Redford.
“The leadership of Premier Lougheed built our modern party and our continued success is a credit to his vision,” said Smith.
“The foundation he created has enabled us to govern well for 41 years as Progressive Conservatives.”
Canadians took to social media to express condolences to Lougheed’s family, including wife Jeanne, sons Stephen and Joseph, and daughters Andrea and Pamela.
At the legislature building, flags flew at half-mast and flowers were placed under a portrait of Lougheed.
Countless messages and remembrances were posted on Twitter, Facebook and on the PC party’s web page.
One commenter, former MLA Jon Lord, said whether one supported or opposed Lougheed, he commanded respect.
Lord, in a posting to the PC party site, remembered the day he helped organize a march of 3,000 students to the legislature building to protest high tuition fees. Lougheed, unbowed, took the microphone at a hastily assembled public address system. The jeering continued.
“He shut the crowd down in five seconds flat, saying ‘I know (pause) … I know you are going to allow me to speak…,’ and that was it. We shut up and listened, and he was impressive.
“It was a pivotal experience that further convinced me to enter politics myself, watching how much difference one person could make in changing things for the better for everyone if given the opportunity.”
Lougheed’s accomplishments were many.
He became a provincial folk hero and a nationally recognized figure for his epic battles with Ottawa over control of Alberta’s oil resources. And he nurtured the oilsands development which has become a economic driver of the country.
He created a multibillion-dollar nest egg for Alberta from oil revenues and fostered arts, culture and tourism.
During the debates over patriating the Constitution, Lougheed fought for a role for the provinces and helped engineer a notwithstanding clause to ensure their rights.
He was a proponent of bilingualism and in retirement spoke out against the Kyoto accord to control greenhouse gases, but urged caution over the environmental effects from unbridled growth of the oilsands.
Although Albertans saw him as their champion, he was also remembered for his nationalism.
“He was unshakable in his belief that this country was the greatest country in the world and that it had to be united,” said former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, who came to know Lougheed during the constitutional debates.
“I watched his performances and they were outstanding because he understood that, in Canada, we built this country by a policy of inclusivity.”
Even one-time rivals offered praise.
“We were known to have differences of opinion on occasion, but I never questioned his integrity or his motivation,” said former Ontario premier Bill Davis.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall lamented the loss of a mentor and a political hero.
He recalled asking Lougheed to give his members a pep talk in 2007 after the Saskatchewan Party first formed government.
“He said he would but wondered if we could afford his consultation fee. I asked him what the fee was. He said a steak sandwich,” Wall said.
“His subsequent visit and the resulting discussions through the years have turned out to be the most important steak sandwich ever bought in our province.”
Plans for a public memorial are expected in the coming days.
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