Politicians of all stripe are sharing their favourite stories of Beaton Tulk, a former Liberal premier who passed away yesterday following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Premier Dwight Ball says Tulk was larger than life with a great love of the province, especially rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

Early this morning, our province lost a political giant. Beaton Tulk was a friend and a true Liberal. His unwavering devotion to this province will live on. My thoughts & prayers are with his friends and family as they celebrate his life. #nlpoli #GovNL

— Dwight Ball (@DwightBallNL) May 23, 2019

He remembers a tidbit of advice Tulk offered him during a visit to the eighth floor. Tulk recommended that Ball move the provincial flag to another corner so that it would show from any angle if the Premier’s picture was taken sitting at his desk.

Danny Williams considered Tulk a good personal friend, despite being on opposite sides of the political fence. Williams says Tulk had a great sense of humour and that he had some fun with that during two byelections in Liberal strongholds on the Northern Peninsula.

Williams could see the tide was turning and decided to turn up the heat on Tulk. He called him and offered him an opportunity to be the first Premier to cross the floor. Danny jokes he can’t repeat the exact words Tulk used, but the gist of it was “Have you lost your mind b’y?”

As a teacher, school Principal, MHA, and Premier, Beaton Tulk’s dedication to putting people first was always inspiring. We’ve lost a great Canadian, and a great Liberal – but his legacy will live on in his many contributions to Newfoundland and Labrador.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 23, 2019

Former Liberal Premier Brian Tobin, who passed the torch on to Tulk when he left provincial politics to return to Ottawa, says Tulk was a great friend. He says he, Paul Dicks and some others got together with Tulk about a month ago. The intention was to stay for about an hour because Tulk was so sick, but they ended up having a full evening out of it.

He says Beaton, with a blood transfusion and the appropriate amount of medication to dull his pain, sat on the couch and “presided over several hours of lively conversation, much… laughter, and none of us got away unscathed from his gentle humour.” He says they had a wonderful evening and when the night was over, Tulk thanked Tobin, telling him “I never thought I’d have the privilege of being at my own wake, this was a lot of fun.”

Visitation for Beaton Tulk at Confederation Building Today

The province is inviting the public to pay their respects to former Premier Beaton Tulk at the House of Assembly today.

Visitation will take place from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the main lobby of Confederation Building.

The cremated remains will be present and his family in attendance, along with a Book of Condolence that will be available for people to sign.

Flags at provincial government buildings across the province have been lowered to half-staff as a sign of respect.

Those who cannot attend are invited to send messages to messages@gov.nl.ca.