Canadian politicians past and present offered their condolences on Saturday following the death of former USA president George H.W. Bush, with former prime minister Brian Mulroney calling it "an enormous loss".
He shattered the unwritten norms of the small fraternity of Oval Office occupants by keeping up criticism of the Bushes from the West Wing. Melania Trump attended instead. He says he drove three times with Bush.
"We didn't agree much on domestic policy, but when it came to the worldwide side of things, he was a very wise and thoughtful man", former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a Democrat who lost the presidency to Bush in 1988, told The Associated Press on Saturday.
George P. Bush - the "P" stands for Prescott - went to Afghanistan as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer.
"And he cocked one eye open and quipped, 'Well, you better hurry", James Baker recalled Sunday as he described the 41st president's final hours of life.
An arrival ceremony involving both the House and Senate will be held at 4:45 p.m. ET on Monday at the US Capitol, where Bush will lie in state in the rotunda until Wednesday morning. Funding was set to expire for some federal agencies at the end of the week and Trump had been gearing up for a showdown as he's sought billions for the construction of a wall along the U.S. -Mexico border.
Bush "was a great friend of Canada, and he made very important things possible for Canadian history", Mulroney said. The New York Stock Exchange will observe a minute of silence on Monday to honour Bush and plans to be closed on the official day of mourning designated by Trump, said Kristen Kaus, a spokeswoman for the exchange.
"I will forever remember his stubborn struggle to allow my immigration to Eretz Israel", Edelstein said.
"The president led the charge... and insisted that we do it in such a way, that we were not unsympathetic to the political problems of Mr. Gorbachev and we could operate in a way that would make it easier for him to do what we wanted him to do, not by brute force, not by threats, not by taking advantage of dancing on the Berlin wall as it came down. Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one".
"Do you regret any of your comments about George H.W. Bush or the Bush family?" a reporter asked. "We are grateful for his commitment to patriotism and public service. Britain took the rare step of lowering flags in government buildings, while Germany's president Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Bush's "unwavering support" for the country's reunification".
Trump added it was "a special tribute that he deserves very much".
