Toronto -- This weekend, Justin and Sacha Trudeau are extending "heartfelt thanks" to Canadians for the comfort they have provided the two young men since their father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, died just over a week ago.

"We wish to express our deep appreciation to Canadians for the sympathy they have extended to us on the passing of our father, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau," they write in an advertisement appearing today across the country in major newspapers, including The Globe and Mail.

"The love and respect that you have shown him is a source of enormous comfort to us at this difficult time," the advertisement concludes.

A single red rose -- the flower Mr. Trudeau was known for wearing in his lapel -- appears above the text of the message, which is on page A8.

In the past week, innumerable Canadians have expressed grief at the passing of Mr. Trudeau. An estimated 75,000 Canadians paid their respects as he lay in state in Parliament's Hall of Honour and later at Montreal City Hall. Hundreds of others gathered along the railway tracks to bid farewell as a train carried him between the two cities, and thousands packed the streets outside Montreal's Notre Dame Bascilica for his funeral.

Parliament Hill's Centennial Flame was turned into a makeshift memorial, as people left red roses, notes and canoe paddles as tributes. Many donated to charities in Mr. Trudeau's memory. And from coast to coast, Canadians signed books of condolences that are to be sent to his family.