Former senator and Quebec MP Marcel Prud’homme dead at 82

OTTAWA –Former senator and longtime Quebec MP Marcel Prud’homme has died at the age of 82.

J. Greg Peters, the usher of the black rod of the Senate, confirmed the death on Wednesday.

Prud’homme’s 45 years in federal politics began in 1964 when he was elected as a Liberal MP in the Montreal-area riding of Saint-Denis.

He was re-elected eight times before being called to the Senate, where he served from 1993 until his retirement in 2009.

Over his years in government Prud’homme became known as a straight-talker and an ardent defender of the Palestinian cause.

He served as a parliamentary secretary on several occasions in the 1970s.