Canadian financier and philanthropist Paul Desmarais was born on this day, January 4, in 1927. Four Canadian prime ministers, a former French president and five Quebec premiers were among those who attended a two-hour memorial for the business tycoon at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica when Desmarais died in 2013. PM Stephen Harper expressed his admiration for Desmarais and called him a humble, generous and unpretentious man. Read more (Canadian Business)