Jack Layton returned to the House of Commons for the last time on Wednesday, his body carried by an honour guard of eight RCMP pallbearers into its foyer, where Canadians of every stripe paid their respects to the late NDP leader.
Thousands of Canadians including family, friends and dignitaries lined up in the wind and the rain as the line inched towards Layton's flag-draped casket.
Some blew kisses, some saluted, others crossed themselves or curtsied as the procession moved through the House where Layton is lying in state.
Layton, who died on Monday at age 61, after his battle with cancer, will remain in Ottawa for two days before his state funeral in Toronto on Saturday.
"It is truly an incredible sight," said CTV's Mercedes Stephenson, reporting from outside Parliament.
"It is raining on and off. It's windy. But people are still coming out and braving this weather because they want pay to their respects."
Layton's casket was carried into the House on Wednesday morning, followed by his wife Olivia Chow, his children Sara and Michael, granddaughter Beatrice and others.
A lone piper played as the casket made its entrance. Further inside, the parliamentary chamber stood empty, a cluster of white flowers marking the seat Layton briefly occupied as Leader of the Opposition.
"He was the captain of our ship," said Ottawa-area NDP MP Paul Dewar. "He took us to where we needed to go. He steered us well."
Michael Layton, a Toronto city councilor like his father once was, thanked Canadians for their outpouring of support through his Twitter account. "Truly an amazing sight on Parliament Hill. My sincerest thanks to all who waited and are still waiting to give their condolences," he wrote Wednesday afternoon.
The first hours of the ceremony were reserved for family, colleagues and VIPs, including Gov. Gen. David Johnston, Laureen Harper and Liberal interim leader Bob Rae.
On Thursday, another public viewing will take place between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m, followed by a 15-gun salute as his remains depart for Toronto. Layton will lie in repose in Toronto's City Hall before a closed-casket state funeral starting at 2 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall. Torontonians will have the chance to pay their respects from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.
From sunrise to sunset the CN Tower will be lit with orange lights on Saturday in honour of the fallen NDP leader.
Toronto's otherwise grey City Hall was by Wednesday afternoon itself lit up with messages, hand-written in multi-coloured chalk, in remembrance of Layton. Many echoed Layton's campaign speeches during the recent election and his parting letter to Canada. "And we'll change the world" read one. "Jack Layton was the reason I started voting," read another.
Layton was a city councilor in Toronto from 1982 to 1991.
Usually, state funerals are reserved for current and former prime ministers, governors general and current cabinet ministers, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a state funeral out of respect for Layton.
Speaking to reporters in Nunavut, Harper recalled his last meeting with Layton amid the fractious end of parliament. "I could see at that point that he was a much sicker man then he was before the election," said Harper. "But even at that moment, with the big personal challenge he had in front of him and with the big political battle we had going on between us, he was still full of optimism and goodwill." Harper is expected to attend the funeral.
CTV parliamentary correspondent Richard Madan, who covered Layton's campaign during the federal election earlier this year, said he expects a large turnout at all the events surrounding Layton's funeral.
"Jack Layton had this amazing ability to connect not just with his political rivals, but with general people he met from coast to coast," Madan said.
"He was a voice for unity. He was always trying to bring people together," agreed former NDP strategist Robin Sears, speaking to CTV News Channel.
Sears predicted that henceforth, "a lot of us are going to be asking ourselves 'What would Jack have said?' 'What would Jack have done?' ... He will become I think an icon for people to test their future behaviour against."
