It all began with a son’s eulogy of his father. It was the day a political career was born. On 3 October 2000, Justin Trudeau delivered his passionate, almost visceral, tribute to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, at his state funeral in Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte was presiding, the homilist was family friend Fr Jean-Guy Dubuc, the readings were judiciously chosen, the choir was in fine form, and the artful alternation between post-Second Vatican Council liturgical practice and ritual with pre-Second Vatican Council hymnody and chant provided an exquisite portrait of the aesthetic and spiritual leanings of Trudeau père.