SUDBURY -- A current and former president of Laurentian University are leading local tributes to Aline Chretien, who served as the school's first chancellor from 2010-2013.

Chretien, the wife of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, passed away at her home Sunday. She was 84.

In comments on twitter, Dominic Giroux said she presided over more than 50 convocations during her time at LU and consistently managed to connect with graduates.

She presided over "ceremonies in Sudbury and Barrie with such grace and charm, making each graduate feel like they were the most important person in the world, and attended Laurentian’s annual model Parliament in Ottawa," said Giroux, who is now CEO of Health Sciences North.

"One year she attended our annual celebration for retirees and colleagues celebrating milestones in terms of years of service that went on for so long in Great Hall because each honoree wanted to speak with her one on one. Even after her term as chancellor, she would keep in touch once or twice per year to check in on how things were at the university."

Sudbury reminded her of her hometown

Chretien had an affinity for Sudbury, Giroux said, in part because it reminded her of her hometown of Shawinigan.

"She loved to tell the story of Sudbury, a community beating the odds much like her hometown of Shawinigan, and was proud to be associated with an institution committed to the sustainable development of the Franco-Ontarian community and of First Nation and Métis peoples," he said.

Robert Hache, the current president of Laurentian, announced the school would fly flags at half mast in Chretien's honour this Tuesday.

"Madame Chrétien was known as the force of nature, 'the rock of Gibraltar,' who inspired and skillfully advised her husband," Hache wrote. “'It will be Jean’s turn to assist me in my duties,'” she had quipped about her new role at Laurentian University.

She was deeply passionate about education, Hache said, something that had been denied to her as the oldest daughter of a large family. Chretien emphasized that Laurentian’s bilingual and Indigenous education programs were “close to her heart.”

"Madame Chretien was self-taught and pursued her passion for languages, and spoke French, English, Italian, and Spanish," Hache said. "In her 2010 address to fall convocation on the morning of Oct. 30, Madame Chrétien spoke words that still resonate: 'Every generation in history has risen to meet the challenges of its time. I now ask you to rise and meet your challenges - I believe you will.'”

Saved her husband

She made headlines on Nov. 5, 1995, when she arguably saved her husband's life. A jackknife-wielding, mentally unstable intruder broke into the prime minister's official residence in the middle of the night. After encountering him in the hall outside their bedroom, Aline Chretien slammed and locked the door before calling the RCMP guardhouse and waking her husband, who then famously armed himself with a soapstone carving of a loon.

Jean Chretien was very proud of his wife, Giroux said, saying at one point after she was appointed LU chancellor, “it’s my turn to take her calls and book her appointments.”

"My sincere condolences to Mr. Chrétien, their children and grand-children," Giroux said. "It was such a privilege to get to know Madame Chrétien in the last decade."

 

- Files from Canadian Press