Canada PM hails Thatcher as `giant among leaders`

Ottawa: Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher was a "giant among leaders" who defined "contemporary conservatism itself," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday.

"With the passing of Baroness Thatcher, the world has lost a giant among leaders," Harper said in a statement. "While many in positions of power are defined by the times in which they govern, Margaret Thatcher had that rarest of abilities to herself personify and define the age in which she served," he said. "Indeed, with the success of her economic policies, she defined contemporary conservatism itself." Harper also credited Thatcher for the "key role" she played in the fall of the Soviet Union and "the era of peace and prosperity" that followed the end of the Cold War. "She well deserved to be known as `The Iron Lady`," he said. Thatcher died on Monday following a stroke at the age of 87. AFP