Canada plans state funeral for late Prime Minister Brian Mulroney WFTV [Video]

TORONTO — (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will hold a state funeral for Brian Mulroney, the prime minister who in the 1980s solidified trade ties with the U.S. and spoke out against South Africa’s apartheid and whose death drew tributes Friday from world leaders.

Mulroney died Thursda y at age 84, after a fall at his home in Florida. Mulroney’s daughter, Caroline, said in a statement that her father died peacefully surrounded by his family.

The flag on the Peace Tower at Parliament in Ottawa was flying at half-staff Friday in Mulroney’s honor, as lawmakers suspended Parliament for the day and agreed to offer tributes to him on March 18.

Leader of the Progressive Conservative party from 1983 to 1993, Mulroney served almost a decade as prime minister after he was first elected in 1984. Mulroney forged close ties with the United States through a sweeping free trade agreement.

President …