Plans for Jim Flaherty’s rare state funeral excites mixed reviews

I don't know about you, but I was surprised when it was announced former finance minister Jim Flaherty would receive a state funeral.

Flaherty died suddenly a month after stepping down from the post he'd held ever since Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives were elected in 2006. Though he'd been battling a serious and painful auto-immune skin disease that left him looking tired and bloated, Flaherty, 64, claimed to be in otherwise good health and looking forward to a new life in the private sector.

So when he died in his Ottawa condo apartment Thursday morning of an apparent heart attack, the entire political establishment reeled in shock. Grief crossed party lines – witness NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair struggling to hold it together before the cameras.

People from inside politics and out came forward to share their stories about Flaherty, his combativeness but also his personal warmth, generosity and his ability to remain friends with political opponents – traits not normally attached to people in Harper's inner circle.

He was also lauded for his advocacy for the disabled – one of his sons has a developmental disability due to a childhood illness – including creation of the globally unique Registered Disability Savings Plan.

The effusion of love may have surprised many Canadians, used to Flaherty often under fire for much of his tenure for misjudgments such as cutting the GST, depleting the surplus left by the Liberals and tight-fisted policies in the wake of the 2009 global financial crisis. Some cold-eyed reflection on his political legacy has already begun.

Harper announced his decision Friday to grant Flaherty a state funeral "in honour of his years of dedicated service to the Canadian people."

“Jim was a great friend and colleague, a dedicated family man, and an extraordinary minister of finance who sacrificed an enormous amount in his years of service to Canada and to Canadians,” Harper said in a news release announcing the event, scheduled for next Wednesday in Toronto.

[ Related: Four great things Jim Flaherty did for Canada ]

State funerals in Canada normally are reserved for sitting or former prime ministers – Pierre Eliot Trudeau received one in 2000 – and former governors general (the last was Roméo LeBlanc), as well as sitting cabinet ministers. Only 10 ministers have been so honoured, the last being Trudeau-era veterans affairs minister Daniel J. MacDonald of Charlottetown in 1980.

To date only two Canadians not in government have received state funerals: MP Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a staunch advocate of Confederation who was assassinated in Ottawa in 1868, and NDP Leader Jack Layton in 2011.

According to the Department of Canadian Heritage, "any eminent Canadian may be offered a state funeral at the discretion of the Prime Minister."

"State funerals and national commemoration ceremonies provide an opportunity for the public to honour great Canadians and participate in demonstrations of national grief."

National commemoration ceremonies are held for special Canadians, members of the Royal Family or citizens of another country who've had an impact on Canada, according to Canadian Heritage. One was held for the Queen Mother in 2002 and another for former South African president Nelson Mandela.

[ Related: Jim Flaherty remembered: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford 'devastated' ]

Judging from Twitter, opinions about according Flaherty a state funeral are mixed.

Only a hardened cynic would believe the Conservatives would use the public profile of Flaherty's state funeral as an opportunity to polish their tarnished brand after problems such as the Senate expenses scandal, the bungled Nadon Supreme Court appointment and manifold criticism of their Fair Elections Act.

But I can't help but wonder what Flaherty himself would make of it. As commentator David Akin tweeted, Layton's funeral cost the federal treasury $368,326. You can't help but think that, wherever he is, Flaherty might be steamed at the public expense.