Tributes are pouring in for Peter Lougheed.

The former Alberta Premier  died yesterday at the age of 84. He had been ill for several months.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, “Canada lost a truly great man ….. one of the most remarkable Canadians of his generation.”

The Montreal-based think tank, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, named Lougheed the best Canadian premier of the last 40 years this past June.

Duane Bratt of Mount Royal University in Calgary says Lougheed thought past the “parochial” concerns of Alberta and became one of the main architects of the constitution.

Which is not to say he didn’t fight for his province. Lougheed led Alberta from 1971 to 1985. He’s credited with transforming the province into an economic powerhouse and became famous for his epic fights with Ottawa over control of Alberta’s oil wealth.