Sault mourns a Great Canadian (New pictures)

Carmen Provenzano and wife Ada would have been celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary today.

Instead, hundreds of the former Sault MP's friends and extended family, including Prime Minister Paul Martin, came together to honour a great Canadian.

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"He dignified and upheld the very best in our Parliamentary tradition," the Prime Minister told mourners at Precious Blood Cathedral.

"His pride [in his community and in his place in Parliament] was so strong and so obvious and his commitment, his character, were beyond question."

Martin praised Provenzano's accomplishments, exemplifying him as a compassionate, humble, hardworking statesman with the interests of his community foremost in his heart.

"Carmen was never one to seek out the spotlight," said Martin. "For him there was great privilege in representing the interests, of serving the community and region where he grew up. The place where he knew people by the thousands."

"Just look at this church," said Martin. "They [the people of Provenzano's community] knew him. They respected him and they loved him."

Martin related the story of the last local Liberal federal nomination meeting.

Provenzano was acclaimed and yet he filled the hall that night, said Martin.

And that was a night that a World Junior Hockey playoff game was going on, too.

The Prime Minister pointed to Provenzano's work to save Algoma Steel as his greatest achievement while he was the Sault's MP from 1997 to 2004.

"He played a key role in helping to secure the financing for the welfare and continuation of the biggest employer Algoma has ever known," said Martin.

"He stood for Northern Ontario," said the Prime Minister. "He will be missed."

Frank Provenzano, eldest son to Carmen and Ada, spoke after the Prime Minister.

As Frank spoke, it was evident that people were greatly moved and many laughed through their tears as they remembered Carmen through Frank's recollections.

"I remember my father for how he loved his family," said Frank.

He talked about how lovingly, patiently and compassionately his father dealt with day-to-day family issues and about how his father extended that familial love to his community as well.

"My father will live on because he left a legacy," said Frank Provenzano. "If you want to honour my father's legacy, be kind to one another."

Frank Provenzano spoke about his father's selflessness with warmth and pride and lauded the positive influence Carmen Provenzano had on his family.

"I see my father in his children, in his wife and in his grandson," said Provenzano.

The politician's son said that his father tended to blur the lines between family and community, embracing the community as part of his family.

"Inside this family, Carmen was love, affection, tolerance, and guidance," said Provenzano. "Outside this family, to his neighbours to national leaders and everyone in between, Carmen was the same. He was kindness."

Frank Provenzano suggested people think of his father when they pass by Algoma Steel or look out over the community he loved so much.

"When you see the smoke from the chimneys at Algoma Steel, think of him," said Provenzano. "When you eat a cheeseburger think of him."

"He was the kind of man who lived his life the way he wanted to," said the son with a nod to his father's casket. "And maybe that was part of the problem."

Provenzano said that his father would have wanted people to celebrate his life and to remember how much he loved his family - all of his family.

As Frank Provenzano finished his remarks, the mourners broke into spontaneous applause and stood to honour a great Canadian.