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Warren Allmand, the longtime Liberal MP and cabinet minister who oversaw the abolition of Canada’s death penalty, passed away Wednesday at the age of 84.

In March he had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

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A native Montrealer, Allmand retired from federal politics after three decades before returning to public life as a councillor at Montreal city hall.

Allmand grew up during the Great Depression, an experience that saw him develop a sense of social justice early in life, a sense that would more than once compel him to buck the party line in Ottawa and at city hall.

Photo by Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette files

“He was always a strong voice for fairness,” recalled veteran Montreal city councillor Marvin Rotrand, who along with Allmand and seven other Union Montreal councillors ignored party lines to vote against a proposal by then-mayor Gérald Tremblay in 2005 to rename Parc Ave. “As a city councillor, I found a kindred soul. … Often we were the only ones in the council who voted against stuff.”