The Quebec flag at the National Assembly has been lowered to half-mast, and all political business has been suspended for the day.

Members of the National Assembly paid tribute to Jacques Parizeau, the former premier who died on Monday.

Premier Philippe Couillard said the first tribute to the former premier would be the renaming of a building: the Montreal headquarters of the Caisse de Depot would be named after Parizeau, who created the fund.

“The fact that he was one of the great builders of the Quiet Revolution and left behind institutions like the Caisse de Depot with benefits to all Quebecers,” he said.

Couillard also said that Parizeau would also be granted a state funeral.

Parizeau's legacy as a separatist was not the issue, according to Couillard. "He was a very sincere and honest man, deeply convinced of his principles," said the premier.

Tributes began pouring in early Tuesday for ex-Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau, with former adviser Jean-Francois Lisee saying a "giant has passed away."

"There is immense grief tonight," Lisee, now a Parti Quebecois member of the legislature, said on Twitter.

"His ideas light the way for the future."

Former PQ colleague Francois Legault said Parizeau was one-of-a-kind.

"We lost one of the greatest statesmen in Quebec, a guy who didn't work for himself but because he loved Quebec," he said.

Parizeau also did a lot for women's right, said Lisee.

""He was the one who made sure that deadbeat dads would pay alimony. It was not the case before he was premier," he said.

Parizeau's longtime wife, Lisette Lapointe, announced the death on her Facebook page Monday night, saying the sovereigntist icon had passed away after a "titanic fight."
 

Former premier Jean Charest said he always respected Parizeau as an honourable man who will be remembered fondly by future generations for his skill in nationalizing key Quebec institutions, and his success in relaunching the separatist movement.

"That level of determination is fairely rare in politics. The kind of determination people who are ready to do things to make things happen and so he launched into this referendum campaign and brought us all along whether we wanted to or not. And he was that respect a very formidable political adversary," said Charest.

Gilles Duceppe, the long-time leader of the Bloc Quebecois, said he was always pleased to work with Parizeau and to listen to him speak, even on something as mundane and supposedly boring as a provincial budget.

"His speeches were thrillers. People were waiting for Parizeau speechs on the budget, so imagine... making figures appealing is something."

Longtime Quebec political commentator Josee Legault called Parizeau, 84, "the last of the premiers."

"May you finally rest in peace," she said.

Parizeau was a longtime finance minister under Rene Levesque before leaving the PQ in the mid-1980s over his boss's decision to shelve the sovereignty option.

Parizeau returned as PQ leader in 1988 before becoming premier in the 1994 election and paving the way for the independence referendum a year later that eventually led to his political resignation following the Yes side's narrow defeat.

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest was Parizeau's greatest opponent during the referendum campaign.

He remembers the then-premier as formidable adversary.

"The kind of determination of people who are ready to do things to make things happen and so he launched into this referendum campaign and brought us all along, whether we wanted to or not," he said.

Famously remembered for blaming the loss of his Yes side on "money and the ethnic vote,"Charest said there was much more to the man.

"It's not going to cloud the overall appreciation of Mr. Parizeau. His life was about a lot more than that," he said.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, one of the student leaders from the 2012 protests, said "Quebec is in mourning. A great statesman has left us."

Parizeau's grandson said his grandfather's teachings will never leave him.

"My grandfather was an incredible man," said Hadrien Parizeau. "He taught me a lot. The advice he gave me during unforgettable times with him will continue to guide me forever.

"Thanks granddad."

 

The head of a prominent sovereigntist group called Parizeau a man of principle and conviction and a statesman in the true sense of the word.

"Jacques Parizeau was no ordinary politician," said Maxime Laporte, leader of the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montreal.

"He was an extraordinary politician because his motivation was of an extraordinary nature.

"He was without a shadow of a doubt one of the most important builders of modern Quebec."

Federal Industry Minister James Moore also extended his condolences.

"My sympathies to the Parizeau family," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press