Calgarians will now have the chance to send a message of condolence to the family of former Premier Jim Prentice, who was killed along with three other men in a plane crash last week.
An official book of condolences has been set up at Calgary’s McDougall Centre on Monday morning, open for members of the public to sign and leave a message.
Hundreds of people have already shared messages of grief online through social media or on the condolence page on the Government of Alberta website.
Jeremy Woolward, a card-carrying member of the PC Party, said that Prentice's loss affects everyone in the party.
"I may not have known Premier Prentice as well as a lot of other people, nevertheless I felt it was my responsiblity my civic duty to come down and say goodbye not just to him, but to his colleagues who were with him."
He says he likely won't be able to make it back for the funeral service, so he took the time to bid Prentice goodbye on Monday.
Woolward told CTV that he did have a chance to briefly meet Prentice. "It was a Rick Hansen's campaign office in Calgary-Cross. I wanted to know who I was voting for, I wanted to know who I could stand behind and both JIm and Rick were the consummate professionals."
He says that Prentice's personable side stood out the most for him. "You really don't see in camera or in Question Period or through the news. You saw a side of him that really cared and they were someone who really cared. I knew why he mattered."
Jim Prentice was on board a flight with three other men, Ken Gellaty, the father-in-law of one of Prentice’s daughters, Sheldon Reid and pilot Jim Kruk, when it went down last Thursday night shortly after takeoff.
The wreckage of the plane was found in the woods north of Kelowna.
Transportation Safety Board investigators say that the twin-engine Cessna was not required to have a cockpit voice recorder or a flight data recorder on board.
They also say that there was no emergency distress call issued before the plane went down.
It’s making the investigation all the more difficult for the TSB.
“We have to look at the weather, we look at the tapes, the air traffic control tapes, we look at the human factor, we look at everything," said Beverley Harvey, the TSB investigator in charge. “Unlike a car accident, there are many contributing factors, not just one or two.”
As a result, the investigation into the crash could take up to a year to complete.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced so far.
